The map shows most of the particulate matter is the largest classification, PM 2.5, which is still invisible to the naked eye and small enough to pass through the lungs, into the bloodstream and to organs.Īccording to the government, top tips for reducing exposure pollutants are not using your car for short journeys and turning off your car engine when your vehicle is stationary.Īlso recommended is reducing how much you burn in your home and garden (such as wood fires) and staying away from traffic if you're walking or cycling. PM can have a natural origin – for example, wildfires or volcanic eruptions – but the majority comes from burning coal, wood stoves, forest fires, smokestacks and other human processes that involve burning. PM, which can easily enter the lungs and then the bloodstream, is classified based on its diameter – for example, PM 2.5 has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which is about 3 per cent the diameter of a human hair. Across all pollutant types, Scotland has less emissions than England, the map shows Pictured, levels of PM 10 (particulate matter with diameter of 10 micrometres or less) with the borders of local authorities marked out in black.
Air in trainslation skin#
Long-term exposure to arsenic can cause cancer and skin lesions, and it's been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.Īmong the other pollutants highlighted are particulate matter – microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled. In similar distributions is arsenic, which is used industrially in the processing of glass, textiles, paper and more, as well as in pesticides, feed additives and pharmaceuticals. Lead from leaded petrol settled in the environment before its phase-out in 2000 – but it is still suspended in the air and moves about due to wind and vehicle movement, an Imperial College London study revealed. Lead was added to petrol a century ago to make car engines more efficient, but a growing body of evidence linked changes to behaviour and mental health to exposure. One of the pollutants with shocking amounts of red up and down the country is lead, a known neurotoxin that kills brain cells and comes from human activities including the use of leaded gasoline. Many of the sources of pollutants – such as road traffic, commercial fuel use and construction – occur in urban areas, so the map shows a lot of red around cities.īut there are some exceptions – for example, the vast majority of ammonia emissions come from agriculture via the spreading of manures, slurries and fertilisers, which is predominantly done in rural areas. Users can also select the sources that are to blame for the emissions – including road transport, combustion plants and the manufacturing industry – and highlight a particular portion of the map to see emissions within.įor example, highlighting a circle of central London with a 5km (3 mile) radius shows lead emissions of around 440 kg – around 50 times an equivalent circle in rural Kent (8.7kg).įor some pollutants, such as ammonia and nitrous oxide, the map shows the rim of the UK smattered with violet patches, although some coastal towns and cities such as Liverpool, Kingston upon Hull, Cardiff, Southampton and Plymouth are red.įor example, some areas with the most polluted air can be due to a relatively low level of emissions occurring in a 'canyon', such as a street with high buildings, trapping the pollution. Using the map, the public can switch between several pollutants – such as lead, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, arsenic, nickel, mercury, particulate matter and much more – to see where emissions are worse for each. 'This impacts on the concentrations of pollution in the air, although there is not a direct relationship between the two as concentrations can be affected by weather patterns, chemical transformations and pollutants emitted elsewhere.' 'NAEI calculates and reports on the quantity of pollutants that are emitted to air,' it says on its website. The NAEI team relies on hundreds of data sources including statistics, measurements and other research to estimate emissions from each source that occurs in the UK. NAEI is a database run by the National Environmental Technology Centre on behalf of the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Pictured, concentrations for arsenic, which are high around London, Birmingham, Manchester and more
The NAEI team rely on hundreds of data sources including statistics, measurements and other research to estimate emissions from each source that occurs in the UK.
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