Only 10% of people rate local air quality as poor, survey finds

Only one in 10 people think their local air quality is bad, despite swathes of the UK breaching pollution rules, a survey suggests.

Some 61% of the 1,740 adults polled for Friends of the Earth said they were concerned about air quality.

But only 10% considered the air in their local area to be bad, rating it between zero and three on a scale of 0-10, where zero is “very bad”.

The environmental group released the findings as it launched a “citizen science” air pollution experiment which will provide clean air kits to enable people to test their local air for nitrogen dioxide.

A third of Londoners quizzed by YouGov for the poll described the air in their local area as bad, although elsewhere in the country this dropped to an average of 7.5%.

But 38 of the UK's 43 air quality zones breach legal limits for air pollution, Friends of the Earth said, and the findings suggest the message on the air pollution problem in the country is not getting through.

The European Commission has sent a “final warning” for repeated breaches of legal limits of nitrogen dioxide, which comes from sources including traffic, particularly diesel engines, in 16 areas including London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow.

London, where the Government has admitted it will not meet legal targets until 2025, saw annual limits for nitrogen dioxide set by the European Union broken on one road just five days into 2017.

Air pollution is linked to the early deaths of about 40,000 people a year in the UK, causes problems such as heart and lung diseases and asthma, and affects children's development.

Friends of the Earth hopes thousands of people will take part in the citizen science experiment to help create a comprehensive national air pollution picture.

The environmental campaign group is also providing people with tips on how to avoid air pollution and what they can do to help the fight for clean air.

Oliver Hayes, Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said: “With only one in 10 British adults rating their air quality as poor despite swathes of the country breaking legal limits for air pollution, it seems the message about the scale and danger of air pollution isn't getting through.

“Often you can't see it, or smell it, but it's there - and air pollution is risking the health of an entire generation of children.”

He said the clean air kits would help people find out about air quality in places they care about most, such as their streets and their children's schools, and build up a picture of the state of the nation's air to bring home to people why action is needed.

Dr Benjamin Barratt, air quality science lecturer at King's College London, said: “Friends of the Earth's clean air kits are a valuable tool in enabling people to discover what air pollution is like in places that matter to them.

“If enough people take part, the data they gather could shed new light on the reality of pollution at a local level throughout the country.”