Archived press release

Hot weather turns heat on prescott - worst pollution of year so far shows need for tough action on transport

20 May 1998

Over the last five days, levels of ozone - summertime smog - have broken national health standards at 44 of the Government's 71 monitoring sites [1]. At 15 of these sites, the health standard was exceeded on all five days.

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's Air Pollution Campaigner, said:

“The hot, sunny weather and the resulting pollution have turned the heat on John Prescott. We need urgent action in next month's Transport White Paper to cut traffic levels and make sure Britain's air is breathable. That means more money for buses, trains, and bikes and cuts in road-building that only causes more traffic.”

The Government has accepted that traffic reduction will be needed in some areas to stop smogs occurring. The National Air Quality Strategy says that “policies ... to reduce the quantity or growth in road transport” will be needed in “particularly sensitive areas” to tackle air pollution problems [3]. Given the prevalence of ozone problems, virtually the whole of southern Britain could be deemed to be a “particularly sensitive area” with regard to ozone.

Moreover, the Government is underestimating the cuts in emissions needed to meet air pollution targets because it is assuming that driving conditions will remain the same,despite increasing congestion.

Earlier this year, Government health experts estimated that summertime smog could cause up to 12,500 premature deaths and 9,000 extra hospital admissions every year in the United Kingdom [4].
ENDS

[1] The Government's national air quality standard for ozone requires that levels should not exceed 50 parts per billion (ppb) as an average over any 8-hour period.According to data from Government monitoring sites, analysed by Friends of the Earth, this standard has been exceeded at the following monitoring sites in the five days from Friday 15th May to Tuesday 19th May inclusive.

SITE NUMBER OF
DAYS OVER
STANDARD

Aston Hill (mid Wales) 5
Barnsley Gawber 3
Birmingham East 4
Bolton 5
Bottesford (Nott'mshire) 3
Bristol 2
Cardiff 5
Eskdalemuir (Scotland) 4
Exeter 3
Glazebury (Cheshire) 4
Harwell (Oxfordshire) 5
High Muffles (North Yorks) 5
Ladybower (Derbyshire) 5
Leamington Spa 5
Leicester 5
Liverpool 3
London Bexley 2
London Brent 5
London Eltham 1
London Harringey 4
London Hillingdon 4
London Southwark 1
London Sutton 1
SITE NUMBER OF
DAYS OVER
STANDARD

London Teddington 5
Lullington Heath (Sussex) 5
Manchester South 3
Manchester Piccadilly 1
Middlesbrough 1
Narberth (Pembrokeshire) 2
Norwich 3
Plymouth 5
Port Talbot 3
Reading 4
Redcar 4
Rochester 3
Salford Eccles 3
Sibton (Suffolk) 5
Somerton (Somerset) 5
Southampton 1
Stoke on Trent 3
Swansea 3
Thurrock 1
Wicken Fen (Cambridgeshire) 4
Yarner Wood (Devon) 5
Ozone irritates the mucous membrane of the respiratory system, causing coughing,choking and impaired lung function and exacerbating asthma symptoms. Other common symptoms include headaches, eye, nose and throat irritation and chest discomfort on deep breathing.

[2] Summertime smog is created when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react,triggered by sunlight. The major source of both nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in the UK is road traffic. Nationwide, road transport is responsible for 49% of emissions of nitrogen oxides and 38% of emissions of hydrocarbons.

[3] National Air Quality Strategy, March 1997 (para 6.3)

[4] Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants “Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the United Kingdom”, January 1998.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust