Does the government’s view of ‘Low’ pollution levels match your own?
The World Health Organisation’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) guideline is for No Human Exposure above 200ug/m3 measured over an hour. At short-term concentrations exceeding 200ug/m3 NO2 is a toxic gas which causes significant inflammation of the airways.
What would you expect the UK hourly NO2 legal limit to be?
- 100ugm3
- 150ugm3
- 200ugm3
What would you class as Low level?
- 0 – 100ugm3
- 0 – 150ugm3
- 0 – 200ugm3
What would you class as Moderate level?
- 100 – 150ugm3
- 100 – 200ugm3
- 200 – 400ugm3
The EU and UK legal limit for NO2 is 200ugm3
‘Low’ is everything up to 200ugm3
‘Moderate’ is 201-400ugm3
If the hourly reading for your area is ‘Moderate’ it means your breathing air that the World Health Organisation say no human should be exposed to and perhaps twice as high as legal limits. Even a ‘Low’ reading could mean your breathing air just below the guideline for no human exposure.
Are you regularly exposed to harmful levels of pollution? Consider your journey to work or your child’s journey to nursery or school. Do you spend an hour travelling in or alongside lanes of stop-start and idling vehicles? How many times will you or your child make this journey over the next ten years?
The effects of air pollution are lifelong, from preconception, pregnancy, birth, childhood, adulthood to old age. The severity of impact of long-term and peak exposures to air pollution ranges from impairing the respiratory system to premature death.
I’d really like to know the hourly NO2 levels on my road, to see how close it is to 200ugm3. I can decide for myself as to whether the polluted air my child breathes is Low, Moderate or High.
Would you like to know the hourly NO2 level for your local area?
Little Ninja
