Which British Towns and Cities Are Heavily Polluted?

It’s not unusual to see reports of highly polluted urban areas around the world. Beijing, Mexico City, Hong Kong and… Scunthorpe? That’s right, a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed a number of UK cities which have exceeded the safe levels of air pollution. While we might expect London to be amongst the offenders, we might be a bit more surprised by the likes of Eastbourne. Read on for the report’s findings.

WHO Report

Don’t worry, it isn’t just a scathing review of Britain. The WHO report reveals air pollution levels for 3,000 urban areas around the world – across 103 countries. It focusses on particulate matter, which is growing in notoriety as the biggest environmental threat to people’s health.

Exposure to air pollution is thought to contribute to three million deaths every year worldwide. Particulate matter specifically can contribute to a variety of breathing difficulties and more serious diseases like lung cancer – and it’s even been linked to Alzheimer’s more recently.

Interactive map

According to the report, around 92% of the world’s population are constantly at risk of breathing in this particulate matter by living in areas that exceed the WHO limits. The WHO have used their findings to create an interactive map, which colour codes different areas of the world according to their annual mean levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter).

Using the map, you can see the areas of concern in Britain are London, Scunthorpe, Eastbourne, Salford, Leeds, Glasgow. They all have levels of 16-25 µg/m3, which, although it’s low compared to more severely polluted areas of the world, is above the safe limits and can negatively affect the health of those who live there. It’s air pollution levels like this that are thought to cause around 30,000 British deaths every year.

"More and more cities are monitoring air pollution now, satellite data is more comprehensive, and we are getting better at refining the related health estimates,” said WHO Director, Dr Maria Neira. “Solutions exist with sustainable transport in cities, solid waste management, access to clean household fuels and cook-stoves, as well as renewable energies and industrial emissions reductions.”

Part of the solution

As Dr Neira highlights, one step in the clean-up process is getting sustainable and clean waste management solutions in place. ‘Innovative Solution to Hazardous Waste’ looks at the disposal of hazardous waste from factories that utilise incineration. The lack of appropriate storage means that we need to create a suitable disposal method. Polish company Ecotech may have the answer.