What is air pollution?
Clean air is an essential ingredient of a good quality of life and people have a right to expect that the air they breathe will not harm them. Air pollution occurs when air has become contaminated with chemicals or substances not normally associated with the natural composition of the air for that particular area of the country.
The 'London Smogs' (or pea-soupers) of the 1950s caused by coal burning are thankfully a thing of the past and never historically affected Herefordshire. Although air quality in the county is generally very good, pollution exceedances here can still unfortunately occur at some places, often now as a result of traffic and to a lesser extent industrial and domestic pollution. In the winter months, this pollution can be exacerbated by winter smogs which are formed due to temperature inversion weather conditions. Across the rural areas of the county, photochemical summer smogs can also occur (particularly in the summer) resulting in high concentrations of low-level (tropospheric) ozone.
There are many ways, both natural and manmade, that air can be contaminated and Herefordshire Council is required by the government to assess whether or not levels of pollution pose any risk to health by comparing this to limits (or objectives) set by the government. We then report this data back to the government and inform the public of our findings and any recommendations.
The main source of air pollution within Herefordshire comes from the burning of fossils fuels in our road vehicles and to a lesser extent, from industry and housing. The reliance on motor vehicles for transportation of goods and passengers has vastly increased the amount of exhaust gasses released into the atmosphere. Improved emission standards have had some effect in limiting the increase of air pollution, however, they have not managed to reverse it. This is particularly important as vehicular emissions are at ground level and have a more immediate impact on the local population.
Increasing demands for goods and energy have also had a detrimental effect on the quality of the air. Pollution includes products from the manufacturing process and from the burning of fossil fuels.
Herefordshire Council is committed to delivering sustainable development in the County, which has a bearing on air pollution and air quality. The Council's vision for the county is "...a place where people, organisations and businesses working together within an outstanding natural environment will bring about sustainable prosperity and well-being for all". There are a number of ongoing sustainability initiatives in the Council and for more information on sustainability visit the Sustainability Unit’s web pages.
