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The main cause of air pollution is from motor vehicles and the major pollutants from petrol and diesel engines are:
The UK has around 50 air quality stations linked into the Government's monitoring system which measure pollution levels every hour.
To find out more about the Government's monitoring scheme:
Elmbridge measures air pollution in a number of ways.
The average monthly level of nitrogen dioxide (emitted from vehicle exhausts) is measured simply by using a large number of diffusion tubes situated across the Borough. This technique is inexpensive and provides useful information about general levels of pollutant and pollutant trends, which indicate whether levels are increasing, decreasing or remain constant. Diffusion tubes are also used to measure benzene at a few of the Borough sites.
For more accurate data, continuous measurements are taken at air quality monitoring stations at Bell Farm School in Hersham, the High Street in Walton-on-Thames and Hampton Court Parade in Molesey. These measurements establish accurate background levels of pollution within the Borough. A number of pollutants are measured from these monitoring stations.
Where levels of a pollutant are considered likely to fail the targets set by the Government, the Council is required to declare that area as an Air Quality Management Area. Two areas within the Borough of Elmbridge that have been declared as AQMAs due to the levels of nitrogen dioxide caused by a large number of motor vehicles. These sites carry out more detailed measurements and are located in the areas around Esher High Street and Walton Road, Molesey.
Pollutant levels fall rapidly with distance from the kerbside, and in Walton-on-Thames levels of nitrogen dioxide are monitored at a kerbside monitoring station outside Boots The Chemist in the High Street.
Information from the Bell Farm School, Walton-on-Thames High Street and Hampton Court Parade air quality monitoring stations are available to view on the |Elmbridge Air Pollution Data webpage. This data is updated automatically four times each day at:
Local authorities are required to review and assess air quality against the objectives in the Air Quality Regulations 2000 and the amendment regulations as part of a rolling three-year cycle, ending in 2010. |An assessment of air quality in Elmbridge is available to view, based on all our monitoring and the problems that have been highlighted.