Free pollution sensors to help Londoners monitor toxic air in their neighbourhood

City Hall research reveals diverse and deprived areas have worst air quality in capital
New signage for the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London
PA
Ross Lydall @RossLydall12 October 2021

Londoners concerned about toxic air are being offered free air quality sensors to monitor pollution in their neighbourhood.

The £1.5m initiative was unveiled on Tuesday by Sadiq Khan and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg to empower communities ahead of the COP26 climate change summit.

It came as new City Hall data revealed that more ethnically diverse and deprived parts of the capital are more likely to suffer higher levels of toxic air.

A total of 60 sensors are being made available over the next two-and-a-half years. Two were given by Mr Khan to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella died from asthma attack exacerbated by air pollution, to install on the South Circular Road.

Sensors are also being installed at cultural institutions including the British Library, Kew Gardens, the National Gallery, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum and Serpentine Galleries.

The devices will feed real-time, localised data on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 particulates to the Breathe London network run by Imperial College experts, taking the total across London to almost 350 sensors.

Until now, sensors have been located by organisations and authorities rather than local residents.

Dr Ben Barratt, of Imperial, said: “This next phase of development of the Breathe London network really puts air quality monitoring into the hands of London’s communities.”

Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah
PA Media

Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said the coroner investigating Ella’s death in 2013 recommended that monitoring and raising awareness was vital to improving the public’s knowledge about the harm of air pollution.

She said: “The Breathe London monitors are essential as a way of informing the public about what they are breathing to help change behaviour.

“I would like to thank the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for making air quality his number one priority as he promised, to improve the lives of children and young people in the capital.”

The City Hall data found that, despite a 20 per cent reduction in NO2 and 15 per cent reduction in PM2.5 pollution since 2016, “significant disparities” remained between more and less affluent areas.

White Londoners were “more likely to be exposed to lower levels of air pollution and are the only group whose average exposure is lower than the overall London average”, the report said.

Today’s initiative is being targeted at low-income groups, BAME communities and boroughs. For the first time, the sensors, which cost about £2,000 a year, can also be bought by organisations or individuals wanting to monitor air quality in their area either to monitor existing air quality initiatives or to help lobby for action.

Mr Bloomberg said: “Air pollution is a deadly problem in cities all over the world, and technology is giving us new ways to measure it and understand its effects.

“By putting that technology in the hands of communities, this partnership will empower people to push for smart policies and give elected leaders the data they need to save lives in London. It will also encourage other cities to act.”

Mr Khan said he was “determined to consign air pollution to the history books”, and said the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone on October 25 would be key to this.

He said: “We know toxic air pollution in London stunts the growth of children’s lungs and worsens chronic illnesses, such as asthma.

“Now our new research confirms that those exposed to the worst air pollution are more likely to be Londoners living in deprived areas and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.”.

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