Worst polluted roads in London named

In the latest figures released by the Mayor of London, the North Circular road and the Dartford Crossing, followed by the A13 Commercial Road are among worst roads in London for exhaust emissions. The figures also revealed that Oxford Street was one of the worst roads in London for traffic pollution. Brompton Road also fared badly in the emissions figures, with both appearing in the top 15 worst locations in the capital for nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter PM2.5 in 2012.

Campaigners have called for urgent action to tackle traffic pollution as a result of the emissions figures, but a spokeswoman for the Mayor said “strenuous efforts” were being made to improve air quality in the capital. The figures were disclosed after a freedom of information request by campaign group Clean Air in London. They reveal the emissions of 12 regulated pollutants from each category of road transport, in tonnes and tonnes per kilometre, in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Simon Birkett of Clean Air in London, who requested the data, said he “applauds” the Mayor for releasing the 1.5 million pieces of data but would take “months” to analyse it fully. He said: “In environmental terms, this is like discovering the Rosetta Stone. All of a sudden Londoners can decode air pollution on their doorstep – in a nutshell, it’s the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ of air pollution in London. Clean Air in London applauds the Mayor for releasing this information.”

 DIESEL VEHICLE BAN

 Mr Birkett called for a ban of all diesel vehicles from the most polluted parts of London by 2020, as he said these were responsible for up to 30 times more nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 exhaust emissions than petrol vehicles. He said: “Ultimately, the only answer is for London to eliminate completely deadly diesel exhaust from the most polluted parts of London by 2020.  By doing so, London can lead the way in Europe and elsewhere in innovation and creating a successful, truly balanced economy.”

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