Highway's pollution levels double in a year

Figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post reveal levels of the harmful pollutant Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in Shipley Airedale Road, Bradford, averaged 108 micrograms per cubic metre of air (g/m3) last year – higher than anything recorded elsewhere in Britain, and nearly treble the permitted amount.

Bradford Council had recorded levels of 53 g/m3 along the same stretch of road in 2008, however – still way above the permitted level of 40, but only half the 2009 figure. Officials are now urgently investigating why levels appear to have rocketed so much over the past year.

Environmental health manager Kate Gabriel said: "This was raw data, and has not yet been corroborated. Further investigation into this apparent rise will be carried out – early examination of other monitoring equipment in this area has not indicated a similar rise. Additionally, the figures for the first two months of 2010 from the same monitoring station show a mean of 76.4 g/m3."

This latest figure remains almost double the permitted level, however, and higher than anything recorded elsewhere in Yorkshire. Ms Gabriel said exhaust fumes were certainly to blame.

"Mayo Avenue and Shipley Airedale Road are key elements of the highway network and carry a heavy traffic burden," she said. "The poor air quality associated with the sites is directly related to exhaust emissions and traffic congestion.

"Moving the traffic from major arterial routes such as these onto other roads would cause worse problems, so steps cannot be taken in isolation. Bradford Council is working to tackle congestion and air quality issues with other authorities in the region."

Last week the underlying health problems caused by air pollution in Britain were laid bare in a shocking report by a committee of MPs.

Its chairman, Tim Yeo, said: "Air pollution probably causes more deaths than passive smoking, traffic accidents or obesity. In the worst-affected areas this invisible killer could be taking years off the lives of people most at risk. Much more needs to be done to save lives and reduce the enormous burden air pollution is placing on the NHS."

In Yorkshire, our study shows that average pollution levels have soared above legal limits in dozens of locations, from cities such as Leeds and Sheffield to small towns such as Northallerton, Ripon, Skipton and Selby.

One city with a particular problem is York, where several key thoroughfares have average NO2 levels way beyond acceptable levels. Council officials there warned that air monitor readings could involve a considerable margin for error, and comparisons with other authorities should be made "with caution" but council leader Andrew Waller said there was no doubt air pollution was a genuine issue in parts of York.

"We have got a number of hot-spots," he said. "If you look at somewhere like Gillygate, you have a heavily-used road that's pretty narrow, with buildings on either side.

"The pollutants just collect there. It's a consequence of our heritage, of having all these narrow streets.

"Obviously you can't go around demolishing historic buildings, and therefore we have to work with the street layout we've inherited and look to innovative transport solutions."

Government rules say councils which breach pollution limits must set up Air Quality Management Areas to monitor air pollution and establish ways to reduce it but in many of Yorkshire's pollution hot-spots, these areas have been in place for many years with little tangible effect.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defended its policy, however, saying: "Air quality is a significant health issue in Britain. We take improving air quality very seriously."

Seven gases cause up to 50,000 deaths

n Air pollution is estimated to cause the early deaths of up to 50,000 people a year

n There are seven different gases classed as air pollutants by the Government

n The most problematic in the UK is Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), mainly caused by exhaust fumes

n Dozens of sites across Yorkshire are breaching the government's permitted level of NO2

n A less common pollutant is ozone, harmful when found at ground level

n Ozone is formed when oxides of nitrogen react with strong sunlight

n Ozone is mainly a problem in rural areas, where weather patterns carry in oxides from elsewhere

n The worst-affected place by ozone in Britain is on the Norfolk coast, followed by the North York Moors