Residents of 32 UK towns and cities are breathing air which exceeds the World Health Organisation’s air pollutions safety limits, according to a new report.
The particles, generated by activities like manufacturing, transport and burning wood, “are linked to diseases including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and disease, and respiratory infections” says the London Evening Standard.
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WHO compared data from more than 4,300 towns and cities in 108 countries to compile what it believes is “the world's most comprehensive database on ambient air pollution”, CNN reports.
A total of 32 UK towns and cities tested exceeded the safe emissions limit of 10 micrograms per cubic metre.
Despite London’s well-publicised pollution problem, the traffic-choked capital only came in at joint-24th in the ranking.
Instead, the dubious honour of first place went to Port Talbot. Air in the Welsh steel town was found to contain 18 micrograms of emissions per cubic metre in 2015, the latest available figures.
Two more former manufacturing hubs, Scunthorpe and Salford, came in joint second, followed by Thurrock, Essex and Gibraltar, both with 14mg per cubic metre.
Here are the 32 UK towns and cities with unsafe levels of air pollution in 2015:
- Port Talbot: 18 micrograms per cubic metre
- Scunthorpe: 15
- Salford: 15
- Gibraltar: 14
- Thurrock: 14
- Manchester: 13
- Swansea: 13
- Gillingham: 13
- Carlisle: 12
- Chepstow: 12
- Leeds: 12
- Leicester: 12
- Liverpool: 12
- Grays: 12
- Eccles: 12
- Nottingham: 12
- Plymouth: 12
- York: 12
- Prestonpans: 12
- Royal Leamington Spa: 12
- Sandy: 12
- Sheffield: 12
- Stoke-On-Trent: 12
- London:11
- Coventry: 11
- Hull: 11
- Londonderry: 11
- Middlesbrough: 11
- Norwich: 11
- Southend-On-Sea: 11
- Stockton-On-Tees: 11
- Storrington: 11
- Wigan: 11
The UK figures pale in comparison to the world’s most polluted cities, most of them in the developing world.
Muzaffarpur in India recorded a figure of 197 micrograms of fine particle emissions per cubic metre in 2015, although this figure is under revision. Pasakha in Bhutan took second place with 150, followed by Delhi and Cairo.
WHO found that “98% of cities in low- and middle income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines”, compared to 56% in high-income nations.
In a statement, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalised people bear the brunt of the burden”.
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