Toxic pollution in three London areas breaches EU limits

Toxic particulate pollution breached EU limits in three parts of London this year, according to scientists.

The PM10 levels are not allowed to go above 50 micrograms per cubic metre for more than 35 days a year.

But monitors run by King’s College London have already recorded 38 daily breaches this year at a monitoring site in Drury Way close to IKEA in Brent, 37 in Upper Thames Street in the City and 45 in Thessaly Road, Battersea.

PM10 pollution is significant to public health as the particles are small enough to be inhaled into the airways of the lung.

Ministers insist the UK is complying with EU regulation on this type of pollution. But this claim has been cast into doubt by the latest figures, especially as the Government has a far smaller network of monitors in London than the one run by King’s College.

Simon Birkett, director of Clean Air in London, said: “These new figures show that local councils and the Government have taken their eye off the ball in terms of meeting legal limits for dangerous airborne particles. The huge increase in Battersea casts doubt on Wandsworth council’s ability to control large construction projects and the Government’s claims that the UK is complying with PM10 legal limits.”

Particulate pollution comes from numerous sources including road traffic and building sites.

Wandsworth council said it installed the monitoring station close to Battersea Park Road to ensure pollution levels from traffic, major infrastructure works and development sites do not go undetected. A spokesman added: “These PM10 levels are unacceptable, they must be brought down and we will work with Transport for London to ensure every project in this area suppresses fine particles at source and that best practice pollution control procedures are applied on every site.”

Yesterday the Standard told how NO2 legal limits had been breached more than 1,000 times in Putney High Street so far this year.

Brent said that it was encouraging residents to make fewer car journeys, new buildings to be energy-efficient and schools to mitigate issues with the school run.

But a spokeswoman added: “We also need regional and national measures to successfully combat the issue, as well as individuals taking responsibility for their actions.”

Whitehall sources stressed the Government network of monitors is reviewed every five years in accordance with the requirements of the EU Air Quality Directive.

A Government spokesman said: “We are firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions.”

He added that more than £2 billion had been spent since 2011 to increase the uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles, a new network of clean air zones was being set up, and £290 million had been announced to support electric vehicles, low emission buses and taxis, and alternative fuels.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said the latest figures were why Sadiq Khan was “delivering hard-hitting measures” to ban the most polluting vehicles from the capital’s streets.

He added: “Sadiq is doing all he can by proposing a bold package of measures to tackle London’s killer air and it’s about time Government stepped up and played its part by introducing a national diesel scrappage scheme now.”