Low Emission Zone begins to tackle Edinburgh’s air pollution problem

LOW EMISSION ZONE BEGINS TO TACKLE EDINBURGH’S AIR POLLUTION PROBLEM

It’s been revealed that Scotland did not breach air pollution limits in 2022 for the first time, excluding the impact of lockdowns in 2020. Campaigners say the improvement in air quality in Edinburgh shows the early benefits of Low Emission Zones, with reductions in pollution from diesel vehicles.

Friends of the Earth Scotland analysed official air pollution data for 2022, looking at two toxic pollutants which are primarily produced by transport. Legal air quality standards came into force in 2010, yet had previously been broken every single year since except 2020 when the lockdowns resulted in a big drop in car journeys.

The provisional data suggests that air quality across Scotland was within legal limits in 2022.

Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone will formally begin in June this year. To support bus operators to meet the criteria, the Scottish Government has provided grants for buying new buses or retrofitting older buses. This has almost certainly led to air quality improvements on Edinburgh’s busier bus corridors, such as city centre streets.

Many areas across Edinburgh showed reductions in nitrogen dioxide, compared to 2021, with a slight increase on St John’s Road.

St John’s Road also experienced an increase in particulate pollution (PM10), the data suggest. In 2021, there was an annual average of 11.00 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) for PM10, rising to 14.31 µg/m3 in 2022.

There were year-on-year increases in PM10 across the city. These could be attributed to an increase in car traffic after all Covid-19 restrictions were removed, or a more general increase in commercial activity.

Dirtiest streets for Nitrogen Dioxide

The European Ambient Air Quality Directive set a limit for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) of 40 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3). The deadline for this limit to have been met was 2010.

Location  /              NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide Annual mean (µg/m3)

Edinburgh St John’s Road                29.26
Edinburgh Queensferry Road         26.86
Edinburgh Nicolson Street               23.40
Edinburgh Salamander St          18.34
Edinburgh Gorgie Road            17.37
Edinburgh Glasgow Road          15.14
Edinburgh St Leonards            13.09
Edinburgh Currie                        4.77

Dirtiest streets for fine particles (PM10)

The Scottish annual statutory standard for particulate matter (PM10) is 18 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3).

Location /                      PM10 annual mean (µg/m3)

Edinburgh St John’s Road                14.31
Edinburgh Salamander St          14.26
Edinburgh Queensferry Road         13.92
Edinburgh Nicolson Street               12.11
Edinburgh Glasgow Road          11.81
Edinburgh Tower Street          10.01   
Edinburgh St Leonards            9.22

Air pollution kills 2,500 people in Scotland each year and puts the population at risk of serious health conditions, like asthma, heart attacks, and strokes. It’s especially harmful to children, the elderly, and people living in poverty or made vulnerable from other health conditions.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Transport Campaigner Gavin Thomson said: “Air pollution from transport is responsible for thousands of premature deaths in Scotland every year, and causes serious heart and lung issues, so it’s great that some progress is being made in parts of Edinburgh.

“The provisional data show that the Low Emission Zones and the Scottish Government’s hefty subsidies for operators to buy new buses are having an immediate impact.

“The bad news is there’s persistent diesel pollution on St. John’s Road, and particulate pollution has increased across the whole city. If we want to stop breathing tiny particles that damage our vital organs, we need to change the way we move around. The evidence is clear – the more we can move away from fossil fuels, the more our health is protected”.

Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma and Lung UK Scotland said: “It is good news this year that air pollution on our streets has been kept within its legal limits, yet there is obviously more that can be done. We need the Scottish Government to make tackling air pollution a national priority.

“Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to public health. At a cost of £1.1bn per year to the NHS, it is draining our resources, straining our health system and cutting short over 2,500 lives a year in Scotland. It is causing new lung conditions like lung cancer, and worsening existing ones.

“With 1 in 5 Scots developing lung conditions like asthma and COPD in their lifetime, for them, it can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks and exacerbations.”

England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty recently noted that, ‘everyone is affected by air pollution, and it is everyone’s problem’.