Air pollution
We monitor air quality throughout the borough and we publish the results annually.
Latest air quality data
The London Air Quality Network website provides real time access to data from our air quality monitoring stations.
Free Air Quality Alerts Across London: airTEXT
The London Borough of Croydon piloted a free alert service, airTEXT, to give health advice and information on air quality to the most vulnerable. The initiative has now been extended across all London boroughs.
Under the scheme, people can sign-up to receive local air pollution alerts by mobile phone text message, voicemail or email. People in need of the service can register for the alerts online at www.airtext.info or by calling the AirTEXT co-ordinators on 020 8760 5483.
Road traffic
Road traffic is the primary cause of air pollution in Lambeth, as well as the rest of London.
The vehicle emissions of greatest concern are nitrogen dioxide, fine particulates (PM10), carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC's) such as benzene.
High levels of any of these pollutants can affect health, making breathing problems, such as asthma, and heart problems worse.
Inventory of all air pollution emissions
An inventory of all air pollution emissions in London was compiled by the London Research Centre.
The inventory estimates that vehicles in Lambeth emit over 20,000 tonnes of the above pollutants every year.
This represents 90% of air pollution emissions from all other sources in the borough.
In addition vehicles in Lambeth create nearly a quarter of a million tonnes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming.
Air pollution monitoring
We have been monitoring air pollution throughout the borough since 1993 and publishing the results annually.
In addition we operate 5 continuous air quality monitoring stations which monitor for nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, fine particulates (PM10) and carbon monoxide (at one site only).
Air pollution study
In order to tackle the problem the council has been carrying out a detailed air pollution study of the whole borough.
This review and assessment of air quality in Lambeth looked at the pollution monitoring results, for seven key pollutants, from a large number of sites across the borough and the whole of London.
This information together with data on traffic levels and weather conditions was used to predict future air pollution levels in the borough.
The results showed that, despite improvements in air quality in Lambeth over the next 4 to 5 years, two pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates, are likely to fail government targets.
See the following documents for more information:
Annual air quality reports
The council contracts independent laboratory consultants to monitor and report the quality of the air in the borough.
For copies of previous annual reports please contact us.
Who to contact
You can contact us by phone or email or by visiting our offices.
Environmental Health
2 Herne Hill Road
London
SE24 0AU
Phone: 020 7926 6111
Fax: 020 7926 6130
Email: noise@lambeth.gov.uk