Statement from Manchester City Council (via MP) on air pollution monitoring

 

Fwd: (Case Ref: AK42541)

Ruth Todhunter

to Sue, me, Jardine

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Afzal Khan <afzal.khan.mp@parliament.uk> Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2021, 14:37
Subject: (Case Ref: AK42541)
To: <ruthtodhunter@gmail.com>

Wed, 7 Apr, 23:21

Hello,

I hope that this finds you well. I am writing to you today to provide you with the response I have received regarding your issue, which I will copy below:

Thank you for your correspondence.

The Council carries out routine air quality monitoring on the A6 Stockport Road approximately 280 metres to the south of Crowcroft Park.

The results from this site, together with all other air quality monitoring carried out across Greater Manchester, are used to verify dispersion modelling which provides an estimate of concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution across the district.

The outcome of this exercise was the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in 2016, which can be viewed at uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma/maps, and we provide a screenshot of the relevant area below, which indicates no issue of NO2 pollution near the school.

It should be noted that the AQMA was set at a precautionary 35 μg/m3 (micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre of air) as an annual average concentration, whereas the legal limit is 40 μg/m3, and also that the extent of the AQMA is to be reviewed due to improvements in local air quality over recent years.

A more accurate picture of current air pollution can be viewed at cleanairgm.com/clean-air- zone-map, which shows predicted roadside NO2 levels. Further below is a screenshot of this information focused on the area in question, and it can be seen that no roadside areas near the school are predicted to exceed the legal annual limit, although limited stretches of the A6 main road exceed the precautionary level of 35 μg/m3.

The difference between the 2016 AQMA and the Clean Air Zone map also demonstrates the improvements in air pollution within this area over the last few years.

You state that the readings they have taken are "sometimes 3 times over the legal limit for NO and very high for particle matter 2.5". We would suggest that you are referring to NO2 rather than NO (nitric oxide, which has no legal limit), and would also suggest that that you are possibly comparing an instantaneous or short-term average measurement, as a vehicle passes the sensor sampling inlet, with the NO2 legal limit that's based on an hourly or annual average. As the maps demonstrate, this area is not predicted to exceed the annual average limit.

Regarding the hourly average limit for NO2, there are no areas in Manchester that currently

exceed this, even near the city's busiest arterial roads, and it is therefore not feasible that levels in the area around the school or park (or even the A6) are breaching this. It's not clear what is meant by 'very high' for particulate matter PM2.5, but again it's highly unlikely that traffic pollution in this area is causing a breach of legal or World Health Organization guideline levels.

Please also note that we are in discussions with the Senior Manager for Air Quality & Environment at Transport for Greater Manchester, who has raised concerns that an increasing number of 'low-cost' sensors are being deployed with little or no guidance on their use, the interpretation of their results and comparison with legal limits, or information on their accuracy and precision.

It is understood that there is an intention to produce a short guidance document for individuals or groups/organisations who wish to utilise these instruments for local air quality monitoring. London have produced a comprehensive guidance document which can be viewed here, although we would wish to offer something more concise.

2016 AQMA:
2021 CAZ predicted roadside NO2:

Kind Regards.
Executive Member for Environment, Planning & Transport

I hope that this information is of use to you.

Best wishes, Afzal

Afzal Khan MP
Labour Member of Parliament for Manchester, Gorton Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons

House of Commons, London, SW1A 1AA | BMHC, College Road, Manchester, M16 8BP T: 0207 219 3570 | 0161 226 5546
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