| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Air pollution in Putney | |
| Posted by: | Jonathan Callaway | |
| Date/Time: | 28/02/14 10:18:00 |
| An article in today's Independent looks at air pollution and efforts by "citizen science" campaigners. The Putney Society (and yours truly) get a brief mention. All I can say is that publicity of this sort is welcome - it keeps the issue at the front of people's minds and well up the political agenda. We are still hoping to do a local survey of particulate matter levels but are having trouble getting hold of the necessary kit. Offically PM levels even on the High STreet are within EU limits but that's not the case in Battersea where the local amenity society has done its own survey and found quite worrying excesses, previously unrecorded by the council. Increasingly, medical opinion is that the official limits are too high and that there may be no safe levels of exposure to these tiny particles which penetrate the lungs and can even get into the blood stream. By far the biggest source of PMs is diesel vehicle exhausts but they also come from any vehicle due to the effects of wear and tear on tyres and brakes. The PMs themselves can contain all sorts of toxic metals and chemical compounds. Here is a link to the article: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/citizen-clean-campaigners-frustrated-with-the-governments-failure-to-cut-the-amount-of-air-pollution-are-uniting-to-tackle-invisible-killer-9158491.html |