Shortly after the New Year, the London Borough of Wandsworth opened a new urban background air quality monitoring site on Felsham Road in Putney. The Felsham Road site is of particular interest as it is situated approximately 50 metres from Putney High Street where the council has two near-road continuous monitoring sites that measure unusually elevated nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with hourly means falling into the ‘Moderate’ banding on a regular basis.

Measurements from Felsham Road will therefore quantify the extent to which NO2 arising from Putney High Street penetrates into more residential areas. Such detailed continuous monitoring of pollution around a single street is of great interest and most probably unique within the LAQN.

The new site measures PM10 particulate by FDMS, NO2 and carbon monoxide. Monitoring at Felsham Road will complement Wandsworth’s other urban background site which has been running at Wandsworth Town Hall since 1994, as well as being a welcome addition to the wider measurement of air pollution in inner London.

Item date 27/01/2011