Physios issue warning over pollutant emissions
Published: 28 Feb 2005
Marylebone Road has highest levels in the UK. CSP calls for pledge to ban worst polluting vehicles from city centres
Air particles emitted mainly by diesel engines are posing a serious threat to public health, warn respiratory physiotherapists in a new report published today by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).
Experts at the World Health Organisation (WHO) believe there is NO SAFE limit for exposure to the pollutant, known scientifically as PM10, yet the CSP's analysis reveals high levels across the UK. Across the nation as a whole there are an average of 23.3 micrograms of the pollutant per cubic metre (m3) of air.
The Marylebone Road in London came out worst in the study, with 43 micrograms/m3, followed by Camden, also in London, with 32.
London is not the only area affected. Other parts of the UK recorded high levels of PM10. Of the top ten hotspots, five are outside of the capital. Port Talbot in Wales notched up a reading of 31 micrograms/m3, a road in Bury, Lancashire recorded 30, while monitoring points in Bradford's town centre and at the kerbside in Glasgow both came in with average levels of 27 micrograms/m3 over 2004.
The CSP gathered information from 58 automatic monitoring points around the UK. Results are set out on p2 and are available from the official Defra Air Quality Archive. Figures are available for other monitoring points in the UK for periods of less than a year. These can be obtained from the Defra Air Quality Archive.
Exposure to this pollutant can cause coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. The health consequences for those who suffer from lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema can be far more serious, say respiratory physios (1).
Tokyo has responded to WHO concerns by considering banning vehicles with certain types of engines in built up areas and calling on car manufacturers to ensure diesel engines become cleaner. The CSP wants the UK to follow suit.
CSP Chair of Council, Grahame Pope said 'Respiratory physios are dealing with patients being harmed by this pollutant. The CSP wants action:
- The UK government should accept the WHO position that there is no safe exposure limit.
- Diesel engine manufacturers should produce engines with zero emissions of PM10.
- Local authorities should follow the Japanese example by banning these vehicles from built up areas.
Responding to the CSP call for a pledge Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London said:
'I am delighted that the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is highlighting the problem of air pollution and thoroughly support their campaign. London has long-suffered the worst air quality in the country, with air pollution estimated to cause 1,600 premature deaths every year.
'I am proud that London is leading the way in trialling zero emission fuel cell buses and we have recently announced strict new emissions standards for London's 20,000 black cabs. By the end of this mayoral term we will declare the whole of Greater London a Low Emission Zone, banning the most polluting lorries, coaches and buses from the capital. London will be the only major city in the world to have taken such a radical step to tackle air pollution.'
- Unit of measurement: a measure of concentration in terms of mass per unit volume. A concentration of 1 µg/m3 means that one cubic metre of air contains one microgram (millionth of a gram) of pollutant
- Data from 58 monitoring points
- Air pollutant concentrations: Automatic Monitoring data
- PM10 particulate matter annual mean: 2004
- Source: Air Quality Archive
| Annual mean 2004 µg/m3 | |
| Average | 23.3 |
| Highest site value | 43 |
| Lowest site value | 8 |
| Location | µg/m3 |
| London Marylebone Road | 43 |
| Camden Kerbside | 35 |
| Port Talbot | 31 |
| Bury Roadside | 30 |
| Bradford Centre | 27 |
| Glasgow Kerbside | 27 |
| London A3 Roadside | 27 |
| London Hillingdon | 27 |
| Stockton-on-Tees Yarm | 27 |
| London Bloomsbury | 26 |
| London Harlington | 26 |
| Cardiff Centre | 25 |
| Haringey Roadside | 25 |
| Manchester Piccadilly | 25 |
| Southampton Centre | 25 |
| Thurrock | 25 |
| Blackpool | 24 |
| Bristol Centre | 24 |
| Liverpool Speke | 24 |
| London Bexley | 24 |
| London N. Kensington | 24 |
| London Eltham | 23 |
| Nottingham Centre | 23 |
| Redcar | 23 |
| Stockport Shaw Heath | 23 |
| Birmingham Centre | 22 |
| Canterbury | 22 |
| Hull Freetown | 22 |
| Leeds Centre | 22 |
| London Brent | 22 |
| Norwich Centre | 22 |
| Plymouth Centre | 22 |
| Sheffield Centre | 22 |
| Belfast Centre | 21 |
| Leamington Spa | 21 |
| Leicester Centre | 21 |
| Middlesbrough | 21 |
| Rochester | 21 |
| Salford Eccles | 21 |
| Derry | 20 |
| Wolverhampton Centre | 20 |
| Aberdeen | 19 |
| Bolton | 19 |
| Edinburgh St Leonards | 19 |
| Harwell | 19 |
| Northampton | 19 |
| Portsmouth | 19 |
| Stoke-on-Trent Centre | 19 |
| Wirral Tranmere | 19 |
| Cwmbran | 18 |
| Preston | 18 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 18 |
| Newcastle Centre | 17 |
| Coventry Memorial Park | 16 |
| Grangemouth | 16 |
| Reading New Town | 16 |
| Lough Navar | 10 |
| Belfast Clara St | 8 |
| Birmingham East | n/a |
| Birmingham Tyburn | n/a |
| Glasgow Centre | n/a |
| Narberth | n/a |
| Scunthorpe | n/a |
| Scunthorpe Town | n/a |
| Swansea | n/a |
| Wigan Centre | n/a |
| Wigan Leigh | n/a |
Ends
(1) Members of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care (ACPRC) say a reduction in emissions from cars and industry could be of great benefit to patients and the health of the public in general. Respiratory physios treat a range of conditions, including those which come under the umbrella term of 'Obstructive Airways Disease' such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma and Bronchiectasis. To find out more about the conditions respiratory physios treat, the effects pollution can have on their patients and the type of intervention provided, please call the CSP press office on the numbers below to set up an interview with an ACPRC member.
Notes to editors
- For more information, or to arrange an interview, call the CSP press office on 020 7306 6616 / 6163 / 6628. Mobiles: 07786 332 197 (Jennie Edmondson) 07795 564 240 (Prabh Salaman)
- The CSP's data has been compiled from the Air Quality Archive from Defra. To find the addresses of the monitoring points in each area, see the 'siteinfo' page on the Casella Stanger website: www.stanger.co.uk. PM10 particulates in cities mainly come from burning diesel fuel in diesel engines, though there are also industrial and natural sources of this pollutant.
- The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is the professional, educational and trade union body for the country's 45,000 chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and assistants.
