Air Pollution: Greater London Ms Buck To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many days air pollution recorded at each London air quality monitoring site exceeded EU legal limits for air pollution in each year since 2005. Jim Fitzpatrick The Council Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe requires member states to assess ambient air for levels of a number of defined pollutants. The directive sets out limit values which member states are required to meet. The limit values specify both the level the pollutants must be kept below, and the time over which data should be averaged. Limit values with averaging times of less than or equal to 24 hours, and which have been or are being exceeded in London are detailed below: NO2 hourly mean of 200 ug/m3 (not to be exceeded more than 18 times per year) 24 hour mean (PM10 of 50 ug/m3, (not be exceeded more than 35 times per year). The following table indicates for monitoring sites in London the number of days per year where an exceedance of either of the above detailed limit values has occurred, for all years between 2005 and 2008 inclusive. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Site Code |Site Name |Year|Days Exceedence of EU Limit Values| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |A30 |London A3 Roadside |2005|2 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2005|6 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2005|7 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC2 |London Cromwell Road 2|2005|2 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2005|156 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total 2005| | |173 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2006|150 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total 2006| | |150 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2007|21 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG1 |Haringey Roadside |2007|1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HK4 |London Hackney |2007|3 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2007|5 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2007|123 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |total 2007| | |153 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2008|27 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2008|23 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2008|174 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total 2008| | |224 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following should be noted in conjunction with the table. The numbers presented represent a combination of both the above limit values. If a single day occurred where there was an exceedance of both the above limit values, it has only been counted once, i.e. the total number of days per year exceeding at each site cannot exceed 365. For the hourly mean N02 limit value, the number presented represents a single hour in the day above 200 microgrammes/m3 (where the total number of hourly means in excess of 200 microgrammes/m3 at that site was greater than 18 in the year). This counts as one day where an exceedance occurred, even though there may have been several hours above this concentration in the 24 hour period. Only hours in excess of the 18 allowed per year have been counted as contributing to the exceedance. For the daily mean PM10 limit value, the total number of days represents the number of days where 24 hour mean concentrations were in excess of 50 microgrammes/m3, with the first 35 allowed occurrences subtracted. Therefore the days counted include only those which are above the 35 days per year allowed, or 18 hours per year allowed, as defined by the limit values. Data have only been reported for sites with more than 90 per cent. data capture. Ms Buck To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what average annual concentration of nitrogen dioxide in micrograms per cubic metre was recorded at each London air quality monitoring site in each year since 2005. Jim Fitzpatrick Under EU legislation, the UK is required to assess ambient air for levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and to report to the European Commission on an annual basis. Detailed reports on the assessments are available from the Air Quality Archive (www.airquality.co.uk). Nitrogen dioxide monitoring is undertaken in London at a number of sites for this purpose in accordance with the criteria in the Council Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe. Annual mean NO2 monitoring data are displayed in the table for sites within London for years since 2005. Data are only displayed for sites where data capture for that year was greater than 90 per cent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Site code|Site name |Year|Annual mean NO2 ( microgrammes/m-3)| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |A30 |London A3 Roadside |2005|61 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BL0 |London Bloomsbury |2005|57 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BX1 |London Bexley |2005|36 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BY7 |Bromley Roadside |2005|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG1 |Haringey Roadside |2005|42 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG2 |London Haringey |2005|34 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HI0 |London Hillingdon |2005|45 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HK4 |London Hackney |2005|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2005|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC1 |London N. Kensington |2005|40 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC2 |London Cromwell Road 2|2005|79 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LH0 |London Harlington |2005|38 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LW1 |London Lewisham |2005|51 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2005|112 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SK1 |London Southwark |2005|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SK2 |Southwark Roadside |2005|60 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TD0 |London Teddington |2005|25 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TH2 |Tower Hamlets Roadside|2005|61 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |WA2 |London Wandsworth |2005|54 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |A30 |London A3 Roadside |2006|59 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BL0 |London Bloomsbury |2006|57 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BT1 |London Brent |2006|30 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BX1 |London Bexley |2006|36 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2006|71 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |GR4 |London Eltham |2006|30 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG2 |London Haringey |2006|33 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HI0 |London Hillingdon |2006|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC1 |London N. Kensington |2006|38 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC2 |London Cromwell Road 2|2006|83 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LH0 |London Harlington |2006|37 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LW1 |London Lewisham |2006|54 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2006|110 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TD0 |London Teddington |2006|23 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TH2 |Tower Hamlets Roadside|2006|60 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |WA2 |London Wandsworth |2006|51 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |WM0 |London Westminster |2006|50 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BT1 |London Brent |2007|32 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BX1 |London Bexley |2007|34 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BY7 |Bromley Roadside |2007|47 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2007|77 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |GR4 |London Eltham |2007|30 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG1 |Haringey Roadside |2007|42 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG2 |London Haringey |2007|32 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HI0 |London Hillingdon |2007|45 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HK4 |London Hackney |2007|49 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2007|63 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC1 |London N. Kensington |2007|39 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC2 |London Cromwell Road 2|2007|71 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LH0 |London Harlington |2007|37 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LW1 |London Lewisham |2007|53 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2007|102 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SK1 |London Southwark |2007|44 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TD0 |London Teddington |2007|28 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BL0 |London Bloomsbury |2008|55 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BT1 |London Brent |2008|33 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BX1 |London Bexley |2008|33 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BY7 |Bromley Roadside |2008|45 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |CD1 |Camden Kerbside |2008|76 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |GR4 |London Eltham |2008|26 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG1 |Haringey Roadside |2008|37 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HG2 |London Haringey |2008|32 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HK4 |London Hackney |2008|51 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |HS5 |Brentford Roadside |2008|58 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |KC1 |London N. Kensington |2008|33 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LH0 |London Harlington |2008|35 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |LW1 |London Lewisham |2008|52 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |MY1 |London Marylebone Road|2008|115 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SK1 |London Southwark |2008|47 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TD0 |London Teddington |2008|25 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |TH2 |Tower Hamlets Roadside|2008|63 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |WM0 |London Westminster |2008|40 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All combustion processes in air produce oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric acid (NO) are both oxides of nitrogen and are referred to as NOx. Road transport is the main source. At high levels NO2 causes inflammation of the airways. Long-term exposure may affect lung function and respiratory symptoms. London is currently exceeding the EU Limit Value of 40 microgrammes/m3 and is not likely to meet this value by the attainment date of 2010. The Council Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe provides for member states to submit plans to the European Commission to postpone the compliance deadline for meeting the limit value for nitrogen dioxide from 2010 to 2015. The UK Government expect to submit such a plan to the Commission in 2010 following consultation early next year.