IS AIR POLLUTION ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND WORSE THAN ULEZ STREETS?

From August 29, drivers of the most polluting vehicles will be forced to pay a £12.50 charge when driving in outer London. The plans have sparked major backlash over the impact this will have on charities, small businesses, cancer patients, carers, elderly and disabled people, who may not be able to use public transport or afford to upgrade their cars to ULEZ compliant models. According to the Mayor, it’s a “matter of life and death”…

Given the ULEZ expansion will inevitably push more people to use the tube, Guido’s Adam Cherry took a trip underground to see what that means for Londoners’ health using a industry standard Temtop Air Quality Monitor. The device measures PM 2.5 fine particles. High levels of PM 2.5 have been shown to cause asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological problems…

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended annual average for PM 2.5 is 10 micrograms per cubic metre. When Guido wrote about this previously, Sadiq Khan’s spokesperson claimed “tube dust is predominantly made up of iron oxide” which doesn’t have “significant health impacts“. New research from the University of Cambridge shows those iron oxide particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, and the overall pollution levels on the Tube are significantly higher than the WHO limits. Find out just how much higher those pollution levels are in the video above…