Friday 26 June 2015

Air Pollution Update 2015



I’ve been following the Sunderland Council air quality reports for several years, and thought I’d update my blog with the April 2013 and April 2014 statistics, which I had to request from the council as I couldn’t find them on their website. The April 2015 results haven’t yet become available.
 
The most interesting measure of pollution is the Nitrogen Dioxide Levels (NO²) which has a safe limit, set by the EU at 40 µg/m3. So anything above that is illegal, should automatically trigger a review, and must be a cause of concern for residents living nearby.

At the time of my last blog on the topic, there were ongoing road-works in central Sunderland, principally on St. Mary’s Way, with consequent traffic congestion and local residents were concerned about the consequences. Road work has still not fully concluded, after more than 2 years of work.

The April 2014 report said:
“The Progress Report 2013 has identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. This decision has been supported by the data collected and presented in this Progress Report 2014. The objective that is likely to be breached is the Annual LAQM Progress Report 2014 Nitrogen Dioxide Objective of 40µg/m3. The location of the exceedence is at Dunn House which is located at the Northern end of North Bridge Street the A1018 near to the Wheatsheaf Gyratory.
Sunderland’s next course of action will be to proceed to a detailed assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide, for the Annual Objective.”

However, the April 2013 report said:
“The Updating and Screening Assessment 2012 has identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. This decision has been supported by the data collected and presented in this Progress Report 2013. The objective that is likely to be breached is the Annual Nitrogen Dioxide Objective of 40μg/m3. The location of the exceedence is at Dunn House which is located at the Northern end of North Bridge Street the A1018 near to the Wheatsheaf Gyratory.

Sunderland’s next course of action will be to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide for the Annual Objective but propose that the start of monitoring for this Assessment be delayed until September 2013 to allow major road works nearby to be completed.”

Guess what? The April 2012 report said:
“This Updating and Screening Assessment has identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide.
Sunderland City Council’s next course of action will therefore be to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide at relevant locations.”

So not exactly speedy, by any criteria you care to mention!
Let’s look at the data for the city, using  their own measuring points and collected data. Since the review has not yet been published (if ever…) I collated the data myself. I’ve given all data locations, so anyone living near these can see the pattern of rising or falling pollution near their homes and workplaces. Some areas are quite good, others have the highest recorded data ever (as far as I know) , clearly breaking the safe legal limit.
Location
April, 2011
April, 2012
April, 2013
April, 2014
Arndale ho, St Mary's Way
27.32
28.31
34.9
28
17 Parkside, E Herrington
26.53
28.54
32.4
31
15 John Street
23.99
26.64
25.5
23.8
166 Chester Road
29.01
28.34
33.3
32.3
25 Eden Vale
33.76
32.69
37.8
33.3
101 Southwick Road
25.55
26.73
32.4
28.7
5 N Bridge Street
33.42
33.66
36.8
34.6
6 Beatrice Terrace
34.25
33.71
35.8
32.8
2 Alice Street
20.75
20.35
22.9
21.3
Hinds Street
30.64
30.67
34.4
36.8
Mary Street
30.72
35.54
37.8
37
Trimdon Street 1
37.34
37.83
40.8
40
Silksworth Lane 1
16.81
36.89
19.1
16.7
Trimdon Street 2
36.74
37.38
40
40.2
TrimdonStreet 3
36.17
18.19
40.1
39
Silksworth Lane 2
15.88
17.69
18.8
16.3
Silksworth Lane 3
16.4
16.33
18.9
16
23 Newcastle Road
31.81
15.27
34.4
29.1
237 Alexandra Road
22.36
19.66
23.7
21.8
181 Durham Road
30.12
29.37
33.2
29.5
9 Derwent Street
24.03
26.25
27.7
26.6
3 Holmside
40.77
33.28
41.1
35.8
27 Bridge Street
27.07
29.88
30.4
26.4
4 Athaeneum Street
30.49
32
33.5
30.3
Gillespies PH
29.66
30.66
30
25.9
16 Windsor Terrace, Grangetown
25.49
25.05
21.4
28.3
263 Chester Road
36.02
34.28
39.4
35
45 Station Road
28.76
26.41
29.5
26.7
Echo Building
30.52
36.1
32.2
31.2
West Sunniside
20.96
24.36
27.1
22.2
St Mary's Car Park
23.67
26.4
27.9
25.3
Chaplins PH
34.55
40.8
39.3
35.4
Dunn Ho, N Bridge Street
38.87
42.21
46.2
46
26 Northern Way
31.83
32.85
32.2
31.5
Thompson Road, Southwick
29.12
32.8
35.2
31.9
Merle Terrace
23.25
22.15
25.1
25.9
1 Morningside, Rickleton
25.2
21.72
24.7
24.8

In 2013/14, the highest area of pollution was Dunn House, again. Remember, they’ve been aware of this since 2012. Trimdon Street, the proposed route for the new Strategic Transport Corridor from the new bridge, is also breaching safety guidelines, and Hinds Street is also very high.
Displaying the data graphically:-





Oh look! From the April 2011 report:
In addition, further information was obtained relating to the second potential area of exceedence of the annual mean nitrogen dioxide objective at Trimdon Street Roundabout. The area of potential exceedence covered one receptor known as Embassy House. The property was purchased by the City of Sunderland as part of a large development plan and was demolished soon after. Since there were no receptors in the area of potential exceedence there was no requirement for the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area. Currently Sunderland City Council has no AQMA’s within its boundary

So Trimdon Street and Hinds Street were of concern before, and what did they do? Demolish the monitoring site! Problem solved!

The introduction of new eco-buses may gradually help the situation, as the main source of measured pollution is from diesel vehicles. According to the Telegraph, “Some 29,000 people – more than 16 times as many as die on the roads – are killed by just one form of the pollution, particulates, each year, while the second main pollutant, nitrogen dioxide, is increasingly thought add another 30,000. That would mean that they together accounted for nearly one in eight of British deaths.
Children growing up near traffic develop stunted lungs and are more prone to asthma; those at schools near busy roads have greater memory and cognitive problems. And air pollution is increasingly being linked to cancer and strokes.”

So a good place to go next is to the data on health in Sunderland. Are there centres of pulmonary disease in the areas where there has been high pollution registered – Trimdon Street and North Bridge Streeet, for example. You would expect other causes of lung disease such as smoking to be more widely distributed.  As it happens, data is segregated into doctors’ practices, for much of the data. Here’s the map they use:-




Let’s see where the incidence of chronic pulmonary disease occurs:-

There’s quite a large grouping in the central area of the city. The doctors’ practices with the highest incidence of pulmonary disease are in Hendon (1st and 2nd highest)  and Dundas street (4th highest).



The incidence of asthma shows a similar pattern on the map.





The latest government statistics show that the nation’s 28.5 million cars emitted 150,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, but a further 97,000 tons were given off by just 400,000 HGVs.
The World Health Organisation says that “Several types of animal study have indicated that nitrogen dioxide increases susceptibility to bacterial lung infections and perhaps viral infections… the increase in mortality is highly dependent on the exposure regime. Concentration is far more important than length of exposure in increasing susceptibility to infection, although duration does play a role.”
Just to conclude… A few more interesting items from the Sunderland  air quality reports:_
  1. The former Vaux site that lies to the North of St Mary’s Way which has been discussed during previous Review and Assessment reports has yet to be developed. It is planned that as the site is developed that air quality assessments will be submitted going forward. These will of course be discussed during future Progress Reports. (April 2013)
  2.   Major road works have been undertaken on the Wheatsheaf Gyratory to change the layout of the junction and the improvements should relieve congestion. In addition to this a large retail development of a new Tesco Supermarket is being constructed close by See Fig 8.1 below. Originally Sunderland City Council had planned to begin the monitoring of this location immediately after the roadworks had been completed. However, during discussions with the Traffic section of the council it was advised that the junction would need time to “settle” as motorists became used to the new arrangements and found the best way to reach their destinations. The decision was taken to delay monitoring for a further 6 months. (April 2013)
  3. If the Progress Report identifies the risk of exceedence of an Air Quality Objective, the Local Authority (LA) should undertake a Detailed Assessment immediately, and not wait until the next round of Review and Assessment. (All years in section 1.2)
  4. The site where an exceedence was recorded was tube no. 132 located on a lamp post in North Bridge Street adjacent to Dunn House which is a large block of apartments approximately 5 storeys high. North Bridge Street is a four-laned road that leads from the Wearmouth Bridge, 3 lanes flow northwards away from the city centre and one lane carries buses and taxis towards the city. Tube 132 had an annual average of 46 µg/m3 after bias adjustment. The tube is positioned on a lamp post on the path adjacent to the building and adjacent to Northbridge Street. The residents do not live on the ground floor of the premises and the first level is at approximately 3 metres above street level. (April 2014)

So as long as they don’t walk along the street they live on, they’re alright?
I have to say, the constant passing the buck by postponing the legally required survey until the next year, and the next, so things can settle (get worse?) is depressing. If I lived in these streets I would be angry! Don’t forget, they lost 2010’s data altogether!

I will be waiting for the 2015 report, amd may even put a FOI in for the supposed survey!

My last blog on the topic, with discussion of the use of measuring stations is at:-
 
Here are the reports that give the raw data:-
Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Progress Report 2011
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=11790&p=0

Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2012
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=13733&p=0&fsize=876kb&
ftype=Updating+and+Screening+Assessment+2012.PDF

Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2013

Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2014