More than one quarter of London’s parks, playground, and open spaces exceed international safety limits for air quality.
The researchers warn this could potentially put thousands of children and vulnerable Londoners at risk. In an analysis of the annual air quality levels in green spaces across the capital’s 33 boroughs, researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Leicester used nitrogen dioxide (NO2) estimates, comparing them against safety limits set by the European Union and World Health Organisation.
They found that 24% of play spaces and 27% of public parks had NO2 limits exceeding safety standards, with 67% of private parks failing to keep within safe levels. The closest play space for 250,000 children under the age of 16 (14% of the city’s children) had NO2 concentration averages exceeding European Union limits, with the majority of children affected living in the most deprived areas of the city.
In response to the findings, the team is launching an interactive website which lets people check their local green spaces to get information about average annual NO2 levels.
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