Air pollution levels have dropped by 29 per cent over the last year, achieving the lowest levels of air pollution since this data was first monitored in 1996.
This reduction is equivalent to the level of reduction achieved during the ten-year period between 2009-2019.
The new data, published in the City Council’s latest Air Quality Annual Status Report shows the average air pollution levels across 71 air pollution monitoring locations in the city, during 2020.
Now, as Oxford starts to emerge from the pandemic, the Council is exploring how it can learn from the changes that happened during the lockdowns to ensure Oxford moves forward to the cleanest air possible. This is as Oxford gets ready to launch Britain’s first Zero Emission Zone this August.
The European Union has set a legal limit for the average limit of toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in towns and cities of 40µg/m3 or below– however, recent studies seem to indicate that there is no safe limit for NO2.
There have been several studies produced over the years that have tried to estimate the true health impacts of air pollution in Oxford.
In April 2014, a report issued by Public Health England presented estimates of local mortality burdens associated with particulate air pollution. The report shows that long term exposure to anthropogenic particulate air pollution in Oxford could be responsible for 6 per cent of all deaths of people aged 25 and over.
In January 2021, the City Council’s Cabinet approved the adoption of a new Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) for the city, replacing the old plan which expired in December 2020.
Under the new Action Plan, the Council set its own voluntary target for 30 µg/m3 of NO2 to be achieved, by 2025 at the latest—going far beyond the current national legal target set out by the UK Government of 40 μgm-3.
The NO2 target of 30 µg/m3 is both stretching and realistically achievable by 2025 – however, without the introduction of key schemes such as the Oxford Zero Emission Zone and Connecting Oxford, it is unlikely that Oxford will meet this local target.
Over the past few years, air pollution levels in the city have plateaued following a period of significant improvements in air quality, with the need for stronger measures being highlighted in order to ensure a further reduction in air pollution levels.
In 2019, before the pandemic, the city was experiencing NO2 levels that were above the annual mean legal limit at six locations in the city (High Street, Long Wall Street, St Clements (on two monitoring stations), George Street, St Aldate’s).
According to Oxford’s most recent source apportionment study, the transport sector is the largest contributor of NOX emissions in the city, accounting for 68 per cent emissions. This is followed by domestic combustion (19%), combustion from industry and services (12 per cent) and others: waste, agriculture, solvents, nature (<1%).
Since 2013, the contribution of buses to total road NOx emissions have reduced by 50%. This shows how effective measures such as the introduction of the city’s Euro V Low emission Zone for buses in 2014 and the retrofitting of a significant amount of buses to Euro VI standard have been in reducing air pollution from this vehicle type. On the other hand, the data also reveals that the contribution from cars to total road NOx emissions have increased by 22 per cent – from 15 per cent to 37 per cent.
Councillor Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon at Oxford City Council said: ‘The air that you breathe, the air that your loved ones breathe, is the cleanest that it has been in modern times. Nobody would want to repeat the lockdowns which reduced air pollution levels by 29 per cent, but they have provided concrete proof that getting people out of polluting cars cleans up our air and protects your lungs.
‘The city has taken action to meet a public health crisis in the last year, we should be willing to do so for that other invisible public health crisis—air pollution—which hurts the poorest and marginalised in our city the most. We need to back the bus, go on boosting the biking boom we’ve started, electrify a lot more transport, and make a success of Britain’s first Zero Emission Zone piloting this year.’
The full air pollution report is available to view here.
Photo credit: Pexels / Valiphotos
