Science says the most polluted place in the world is in...London?

Blame it on the buses.

Emissions scientists from King's College London released a report this week showing that London's Oxford Street has the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide — a toxic pollutant — in the world, reports The Independent.

The street's average pollutant levels — produced by fumes from diesel-fueled buses and London's classic black cabs — have hovered at nearly three times the EU's safety limit since scientists installed a monitor at the beginning of 2014. Businesses in the bustling shopping district blame the excessive levels on a constant "wall of buses."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

So maybe cross Oxford Street off your "tourist spots to see" list if you have a trip coming up (NO2 is linked to asthma and even heart attacks) — at least until the city figures out some greener public transit options.