Last week the new monitoring site at Shepherds Bush Green become the third London monitoring site this year to measure more than 35 days with mean PM10 above 50 ug m-3, thereby exceeding the National Air Quality Strategy objective. In addition to traffic, it is likely that nearby construction (partial demolition of a nearby building earlier in the year and on-going works on the Green itself) has been an important local source of PM10.

Construction works are an acknowledged local source of PM10, and their impacts were quantified in a King’s College London study in 2004: The impact of local fugitive PM10 from building works and road works on the assessment of the European Union Limit Value

Evidence from this study fed into guidance from the Greater London Authority on the control of construction dust. The control of dust and emissions from construction and demolition

These temporary local PM10 sources at Shepherds Bush Green are not representative of the longer-term pollution exposure at this location, and should not be considered as representing pollution concentrations alongside other roads in the borough or more generally across inner London.

Item date 18/07/2012