|
Manchester Evening News
July 6, 2007 Friday
Asthma alert at city's pollution blackspot
PICCADILLY Gardens and its adjoining bus station have been named among Britain's worst air quality blackspots.
Readings have shown some of the highest concentrations of the sooty particles linked to asthma and other breathing problems.
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs measures PM10 particles, which are emitted by diesel engines, at 61 sites across the country - from city centres to rural locations.
Figures between January and April this year showed Piccadilly as the second-most polluted city centre site, and the seventh worst overall in the country.
Monitoring at junction 17 of the M62, near Whitefield, had the second-highest roadside readings while St Mary's Road in Eccles, Salford, recorded the second-highest level for an urban industrial site.
Kerbside monitoring in Marylebone, central London, recorded the highest PM10 count.
Spokesman for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists Professor Grahame Pope said: "Levels of PM10 across the whole of Britain are of enormous concern to physiotherapists and all health professionals who work with patients who have breathing problems.
"These particles are increasingly linked with asthma, which affects more than four million people in Britain.
"The technology exists to reduce PM10 emissions from diesel engines, but is the political will there to enforce its use?
"For the sake of our health and our children's health, we cannot afford to go on ignoring this problem."
A spokesman for Manchester council said: "Manchester currently meets the annual air quality standard for PM10 and has done since 2001. Improvements are ongoing and earlier this month, the council agreed a stricter age limit on Hackney Carriages of 10 years, recognising that it is the older and higher-mileage vehicles that are more polluting."
GRAPHIC: Choker The bus interchange by Piccadilly Gardens is one of the worst sites for pollution levels in Britain
________________________
|
Login
Register
FAQ
