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London Takes Just Six Months to Break Annual Air Pollution Standards | 6 Jul 2010

London has taken just six months to use up its annual 'allowance' of poor air quality days allowed under EU air pollution rules, delaing a broadside to the UK Government's insistences that London will be compliant with these same rules by the end of 2011.

Under EU law the concentration of dangerous airborne particles know as PM₁₀ cannot exceed 50 micrograms per meter cubed of air on more than 35 days per year. These standards are based on strong heath evidence that links PM₁₀ to cardiovascular illness and premature death. At the time of writing the London Air Quality Monitoring Network reported that one monitoring site (Upper Thames Street) had breached the standard with 36 exceedances, and another (Bondway Interchange) was in danger of breaching with 35 exceedances experienced so far this year.

The standards should have been achieved by 2005, and to fend off the threat of legal action in the European Courts the UK Government has applied to the European Commission for a retrospective time extension. However, in order for this to be granted the UK Government has to prove that the most polluted areas of the country (parts of London) will meet the standards during 2011. Environmental Protection UK has now written to the Commission to urge them to reject this application, due to factors that include its credibility in the light of this latest data