The London Borough of Southwark have opened a new roadside monitoring site on the A2, Old Kent Road in Peckham, measuring Nitrogen Oxides and PM10 particulate by FDMS. In addition to being part of the London Air Quality Network (LAQN), the site is affiliated to the national air quality monitoring network, the UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN), which operates on behalf of Defra to fulfil their EU monitoring requirements.

The site is a short distance south-east along the A2 from the location of a roadside site which closed in early 2006, thus providing some continuity of measurements. Although pollution concentrations may not be directly comparable to the previous site due to local differences in traffic flow, the site is of interest for research purposes as it would be expected to have similar particulate composition and toxicity.

Southwark has been lacking in air quality measurements since the closure of the previous roadside site in 2006 and a background site in 2009 because the buildings in which they were located were no longer able to accommodate them. Therefore the new roadside site is a very welcome arrival to the LAQN and a vital resource for the residents of Southwark to get up-to-date information on the pollution levels they are exposed to. The site is to be joined by a new background monitoring site at Elephant and Castle later in 2011.

Item date 07/01/2011