ACTION CALL AS PORT TALBOT NAMED MOST POLLUTED PLACE IN UK
PORT talbot has been named the most polluted place in the UK. Latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows 47 towns and cities across the UK match or exceed limits of air pollution, with the Welsh steel town coming top of the pile.
Now the Government has been urged to take action after the report suggested dozens of UK towns and cities suffer from unsafe levels of air pollution.
Port Talbot is one of 31 places across the UK which exceeded levels of fine particle pollutants known as PM2.5 deemed safe by the WHO in 2015. The WHO's safe limit is 10 micrograms. The tiny particles, which come from sources such as transport, industry, coal plants and burning wood, fuels or waste, are linked to conditions including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and disease, and respiratory infections.
Port Talbot, home to Britain's largest steelworks and bisected by the M4, has an average of 18 micrograms of fine particle air pollution per cubic metre – nearly double the WHO limit and the same as Marseille in France, Singapore and the Ecuadorian capital Quito. This compares to 14 micrograms in London, 10 in Birmingham and 12 in Liverpool.
The figures show varying levels of pollution in Port Talbot over time, with the figure at 16 in 2013, down to 10 in 2014 and on the rise again in 2015. Three Welsh cities and one other town were also shown to be on or over the WHO limit – Cardiff (10), Chepstow (12), Newport (10), and Swansea (13).
Earlier this year talks were held by Cardiff council to discuss ideas to clean up the city's air quality.
Proposals include London-style Low Emission Zones with charges for drivers to enter certain areas and plans to stop high-emission buses from entering Westgate Street.
In Port Talbot proposals have been made to extend the 50mph speed restriction on the M4 in a bid to cut nitrogen dioxide (N0₂) levels.
The most polluted city in 2015 according to the WHO data is Muzaffarpur in India, with a figure of 197 micrograms per cubic metre, although this figure is under revision. Below that is Pasakha in Bhutan (150), Delhi (123) and Cairo (117). The report said seven million people a year worldwide – including 40,000 in the UK – are dying due to poor air quality, and nine out of 10 people are exposed to levels of air pollution that are dangerous to their health.
Clean air campaigners called for the UK Government, which has faced legal action over its failure to meet legal targets on another air pollutant nitrogen dioxide, to take steps to stop people breathing dirty air.
Environmental law charity ClientEarth chief executive James Thornton said: “These new statistics show a worrying level of this dangerous air pollution across the country.”
He added ministers should commit to a new Clean Air Act, adding: “Without it, many people will continue to pay with their health.”
Alison Cook, director of policy at the British Lung Foundation, said: “This report reconfirms that air pollution is one of the leading environmental public health crises in the UK today. Action to reduce the toxic particles in the air we breathe can no longer be delayed. How much more evidence do we need to see before the Government sets new legal limits on pollution levels to protect the nation's lung health?”
Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The UK Government needs to show leadership by adopting WHO air quality guidelines into national legislation and in doing so, help to protect the nation's heart health.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said: “Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalised people bear the brunt of the burden.”
Professor Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said while there was a need to take action on air pollution in richer cities such as London, the problem was far greater in other parts of the world.
Data from 2012 shows the UK death rate for air pollution was well below the European average, and only a fifth of levels seen in India and a sixth of that in China, he said.
“We must not be complacent about UK air pollution, but in global terms, things really aren't at all bad here,” he said.
Jenny Bates, Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said: “As more air quality data becomes available, we are uncovering a deeply concerning number of seemingly quaint, fresh aired places across the UK with dangerously polluted air. This demonstrates the need for further research, for us to properly understand and improve the state of air pollution across the UK.
“There is no such thing as a safe level of air pollution, though years of government complacency suggests they think otherwise. We need to see measures including a stronger national network of clean air zones, a diesel scrappage scheme and investment in walking, cycling and public transport to enable as many car-free journeys as possible.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Improving air quality is one of our priorities. Average air pollution levels in Wales have continued to improve, but we recognise hotspots remain close to busy roads and major industrial sites. The Minister for Environment announced a package of measures last week which will support compliance with air quality limits, helping improve public health and the environment.”
Neath Port Talbot council's chief executive, Steven Phillips, disputed the figures provided by WHO. He said: “Neath Port Talbot Council recognises air quality issues locally and has a longstanding strategy and programme to address it.
“We are involved in a research programme with three universities led by Cardiff and Swansea universities in environmental monitoring work as well as working closely with the manufacturing sector and other partners to make improvements. The Welsh Government is also playing its part with the recent proposal to extend the 50 mph limit on the M4.
“However both the Air Quality in Wales website, which is fed via data from local monitoring stations, and the WHO figures themselves contradict the figure of 18 as an annual average for PM 2.5 which has been widely reported in the media. We are therefore trying to establish where this figure originated and how it came to be used.”