Pollution in the air is not taken seriously

IT’S good to see the M.E.N. regularly printing a ‘data graphic of the day’ giving readers factual information about the society we live in.

However, you have excelled yourself with the recent article about the causes and danger of air pollution in Manchester (M.E.N., January 6).

The high levels of pollution from motor vehicles near Trinity High School and on Upper Brook Street near the Royal Infirmary affect lung and heart functions and should serve as a warning to travellers and residents that many Manchester main roads are health hazards.

Burnage Green Party measured the pollution on Kingsway last year, with the assistance of Friends of the Earth. We found that at all the junctions between the roundabout at Slade Lane and the Parrs Wood complex, pollution was at least 50 per cent above the legal limit laid down by the EU.

Anyone travelling by car, bus, motorcycle, bicycle, or on foot, is breathing in pollution on these roads.

This pollution can do lasting damage to the lungs of children and cause serious breathing problems for elderly people.

The city council is aware of these problems, but its failure to restrict planning permission for nurseries, schools and homes for the elderly close to main roads, indicates that they are still not taking the matter seriously.

Drivers need to be aware that idling engines are also producing pollution and that outside schools home time can be a time of increased pollution. Sam Darby, Burnage Green Party

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