Air quality progress in Camden

By the end 2024, we measured nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution at 321 diffusion tube sites and four automatic sites.  The 40 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3) national legal limit for NO2 was met at all but three of our monitoring locations in the borough; two of these non-compliant sites were along Euston Road and the other on Shaftesbury Avenue.

In 2018 – the year before the introduction of the ULEZ scheme – 98 out of 159 diffusion tube monitoring locations in the borough (62%) exceeded the legal limit. From 2018 to 2024, NO2 concentrations have reduced by an average 43% at our automatic monitoring sites and 45% across our diffusion tube monitoring sites (where data is available). 2024 was also the first year in which there has not been a recorded exceedance of the short-term (24-hour) PM10 air quality objective in Camden.

Our transport strategy, sustainable travel policies and infrastructure improvements have supported this significant reduction in roadside air pollution throughout the borough.

As well as operating Camden’s extensive monitoring network, our Air Quality team has had a busy year, with the commencement of several projects, including The Year of Clean Air for Camden Schools, Cleaner Filming for Camden, and indoor air quality sensor loans for residents. As well as these, we have either supported or extended existing projects, including the London Wood Burning Project, Idling Action London, and Healthy Waterways London, all with funding support from the Mayor of London. These projects all serve the same ultimate purpose, to ensure Camden is a borough in which no person experiences poor health as a result of the air they breathe.

On Camden’s journey to WHO levels, the council can report that:

  • The number of electric vehicles within our fleet has risen five-fold since 2018, with 14% of vehicles now fully electric.
  • For the second year in a row, all of our automatic monitoring sites have achieved the 2030 London Mayoral Objective of 10 µg/m3 as an annual average limit for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Despite this, all four monitoring sites are in exceedance of our WHO-aligned PM2.5 target of 5 μg/m3. The World Health Organization considers there to be no safe threshold of exposure to PM2.5; we will strive to go beyond the Mayoral Objective and further improve air quality throughout the borough to better protect the health of all who live, work and study in the borough.

Our automatic air quality monitoring data can be found on the London Borough of Camden – Air Quality monitoring service and our diffusion tube data can be viewed on our Open Data platform.

If you are interested in hearing regular updates from Camden’s Air Quality team, you can sign up to our bi-monthly newsletter here: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKLBC/subscriber/new

Further information about our air quality work can be found online at: https://www.camden.gov.uk/air-quality

 

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