Air Pollution Levels ‘Way Above European Limits’

View of south-east London. Pic: Weidong Lin

View of south-east London. Weidong Lin

 A study carried out by a group against two construction projects claims that people across south-east London are living with air pollution levels of as much as two-and-a-half times over European legal limits.

The campaigners monitored nitrogen dioxide levels across 150 sites in January 2014.

They say that upcoming plans to build the Silvertown road tunnel between Greenwich and the Royal Docks, and Thames Water’s proposal to build a 17m wide shaft on Deptford Church Street will put additional pressure on local road networks that will result in higher pollution levels.

According to their reports, nitrogen dioxide levels at New Cross, Lee High Road and Bramshot Avenue in Charlton recorded scores above 100 microgrammes per cubic metre. The European legal limit is 40µg/m³.

The groups behind the study were “No To Silvertown Tunnel” and “Don’t Dump on Deptford’s Heart” with backing from “Network for Clean Air.”

They plan to combine their figures with local authority data to get a full picture of air pollution across the area.

 

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