London breaches annual air pollution limit for 2017 in just five days By law, hourly levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide must not be more than 200 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) more than 18 times in a whole year, but late on Thursday this limit was broken on Brixton Road in Lambeth. NO2 pollution, which is produced largely by diesel vehicles, causes 5,900 early deaths every year in London. Most air quality zones across the country break legal limits and the crisis was called a “public health emergency” by MPs in April. This week scientists said that one in 10 cases of Alzheimer’s in people living near busy roads could be linked to air pollution (http://ift.tt/2hUeBNJ). A government spokesperson said: “We are firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. We will update our air quality plans in the spring to further improve the nation’s air quality.” He said the government had committed more than £2bn since 2011 to support ultra-low emissions vehicles and greener transport schemes. In December, Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico City pledged to ban polluting diesel cars from their centres by 2025 and a number of cities outside the UK have already taken action such as banning cars on specific days or making public transport free. Jenny Bates, at Friends of the Earth, said: “Air pollution is a major health threat, particularly to children and other vulnerable people. Road traffic is the biggest culprit – and diesel is the worst. This is why the government must take much bolder and quicker action including planning to phase out diesel by 2025.” This week new data also revealed that modern diesel cars produce 10 times more NO2 pollution than heavy trucks and buses per litre of fuel, which experts say is due to the much tougher testing faced by heavy vehicles. See https://www… http://bit.ly/2iTxull
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