Prediction for 2017 is that the annual limit will be broken in first ten days of the year

Putney High Street

Researchers from King's College London has released figures showing that air pollution limits have been breached 11 times this year on Putney High Street - in 2016 it was breached over 1,100 times. Brixton Road has already breached the annual limit for 2017.

Under EU rules the limit is not supposed to be exceeded more than 18 times in a year - the regulations are that the hourly upper limit for NO2 is 200 micrograms per cubic metre.

Putney MP and Education Secretary Justine Greening, said: “It’s very concerning that we still have regular air pollution breaches. For Putney and Thamesfield residents it’s vital our air quality problem is sorted out.”

Simon Birkett
Simon Birkett, director of Clean Air in London, told this website:
"London’s air pollution is worse this year than last, taking just five instead of eight days to breach the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) hourly limit value for the whole of 2017. This binding legal limit has been in legislation since 1999 to be met by January 2010."

“Sadiq Khan knows how to reduce NO2 – he’s reduced annual mean concentrations in Oxford Street by 36% between 2015 and 2016.

“So there is no excuse for him letting annual mean NO2 increase in Brompton Road and Putney High Street in 2016 – even after those sites hit headlines for becoming the first to report official legal breaches for 2016 on 8 January. Why was no action taken there last year

At the end of 2016 Mr Birkett told this website:
“Currently, we’re predicting that Brixton Road, Brompton Road, Putney High Street or the Strand will breach the nitrogen dioxide hourly legal limit for the whole of 2017 by Monday 9 or Tuesday 10 January.”

In July Mayor Sadiq Khan introduced the cooncept of a Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which would divide Putney in half by the South Circular to be introduced in 2019, through which the owners of diesel cars would be charged £12.50 a day.

From February this year, Transport for London will be introducing exclusive use of hybrid or diesel buses with top-of-the-range anti-pollutant systems that meet or exceed Euro VI emissions standards to buses running on Putney High Street.

January 6, 2017