Breathe in Better
This web page provides some general information about air pollution, and some links where you can find out a lot more. PLUS, some information about Northampton in particular.The sections on this page are as below, starting with: Northampton's Current Levels of Air Quality
And, you can 'jump' to another Section by clicking on any of these links:
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Northampton's Current Levels of Air Quality
If you'd like to know about your Northampton's Air Quality NOW, then there is a map - and you can see a screenshot of what this map looks like on this page - which shows you where there are air quality sensors in and around our Town AND the levels of 5 main pollutants near to those sensors.
The map shows over 20 Sensors:
- 1 DEFRA main monitor (a small square on the map) at Spring Park in the North-West of the town
- 5 monitors (small circles) on the Northampton General Hospital site, placed there by the NGH sustainability officer
- 18 monitors (small circles) on major road routes around the town, placed there by West Northants Council.
If you'd like to check what the actual sensors are reporting now, go to the MAP of Air Quality Monitors in NORTHAMPTON and and click the small circle where you want to check pollution levels.
Below are 2 images that show the pollutant levels at a specific time on the Grafton Street sensor, and illustrate the difference between using the UK Government's DEFRA guidelines for pollutant levels and the World Health Organisation's guidelines. You can choose which of these you wish to see by clicking on the 'COG' icon at the top of the options menu on the left of the page.
The first example shows the air pollution readings using the UK Governments' DEFRA guidelines. And the second are the readings at the same time at the Grafton Street sensor using the World Health Organisation's guidelines.
The numbers of the levels of the 5 pollutants are the same in both - e.g. 8 μg/m3 (= microgram per cubic metre of air) but the figures are higher for 3 of the pollutants using the WHO guidelines. This is because the WHO uses different target levelsthat serve as a global target for national, regional and city governments to work towards improving their citizen's health by reducing air pollution" (this quote is from the WHO AQ Guidelines page - the link to this is below).
Thus, for NO2, at this sensor on Grafton Street, WHO guidelines suggest they are 4 x over their target level - i.e. 429% whilst the DEFRA guidelines suggest NO2 is at half - or 54% - of the UK Government's target level. But the DEFRA NO2 guidelines are 200μg/m3 per hour, whilst the WHO NO2 guideline is 25μg/m3 per day. Understanding air quality and air pollution guidelines - and what they might mean for you - is not always an easy process!
So, if you would like to find out more, do please investigate this link for more details on the DEFRA Guidelines, and follow this link for further information on the The World Health Organization's Air Quality Guidelines.
There is a UK Government webpage published in October 2023 that give an overview of a number of aspects of the UK's current position on Air Quality and the population's health. This page (which is at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9600/) says this on the WHO Guidelines:
"The World Health Organization (WHO) published updated Global Air Quality Guidelines in September 2021 covering Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. They provide guidance on thresholds and limits for key air pollutants that pose health risks. They are guidelines only and are not binding on any country unless that country chooses to adopt them into its own legislation."
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What is Air Pollution made up of?
A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF WHAT AIR POLLUTION is made up of, IT'S EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS THE COUNTRY, is available at the UK government's page 'Health matters: air pollution'
And, here is a Very Short Overview:
Air Pollution is: usually a mix of particulate matter (PMs), gases and other substances. It is usually invisible - you don't realise you are breathing in polluted air. The exceptions are when there are very large PMs, such as soot, which you can see as black smoke. Or a gas in large enough amounts that your sense of smell can detect it.
PARTICULATE MATTER. Many air pollution monitors now measure 3 sizes of PMs - 2.5 , 1 and 10 microns. A lot of research into PMs has focused on PMs 2.5 which are so small, they are easily breathable and often stay in your lungs once inhaled. They then can move into your blood, where they can be carried around the body. PM 2.5s are 20 times smaller than anything a human can see with the naked eye and mainly comes from things such as vehicle exhausts, soot and wood fires, as well as emissions from agriculture and industry.
GASES. For example, Nitrogen Oxides, which is mainly produced by the burning of fossil fuels and can then combine with other gases in the air to produce Nitrogen Dioxide which is harmful to health in a number of ways. You can detect this gas which has a strong and unpleasant smell. Other polluting gases are Ozone and Sulphur Dioxide.
OTHER SUBSTANCES. For example, Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs - these come from petrol, solvents, air fresheners, cleaning products, perfumes, and numerous other sources, some from products in everyday use around the house.
What are the effects of Air Pollution on our Health
Here are a couple of videos on the effects of Air Pollution on human health. For more detailed information do check out the UK Government's page as mentioned above - that is: 'Health matters: air pollution'
PLEASE NOTE: more will be added to this webpage in due course including:
- Air Pollution - MORE on where does it come from?
- More on the effects of Air Pollution on our Health
- What can we ALL do about Air Pollution?
ABOUT THIS WEBPAGE. The Climate Change Forum's webpages have been produced by the Town Councillor who is Chair of the Forum taking information from various sources, and combining this information with some element of a NORTHAMPTON PERSPECTIVE. The source websites include those of the UK government, other councils, health organisations, and national level organisations who campaign on specific issues, with mainly environmental and nature-orientated themes. Plus journal articles and books by University academics who have a special interest in the Environment.
- WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK 2023
This was a campaign the Climate Change Forum promoted in May 2023, when Walk to School Week classroom packs produced by Living Streets were funded for 6 local primary schools. The idea is that the more children who walk, or cycle, or scoot to school, the less air pollution from car journeys will be in the air those children and their parents breathe in on the journey and around the school gates