Air quality is the best it’s been since before the industrial revolution, but levels of particulates can still have significant health impacts reports Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (defra).
The news follows the release of the 2010 National Statistics reports for UK levels of pollution from particulates (PM10) and ozone (O3). These two pollutants are thought to have the greatest health impacts.
The release shows:
- The historic increase in urban background ozone has levelled out, and is now at its lowest since 2001.
- Urban sites saw an average of eight pollution days, down from ten in 2009 and the lowest since records began in 1993.
- This followed a larger decrease in 2009, although there is no clear long-term trend.
- The drop is largely due to ozone.
The release and accompanying spreadsheets are here.
