Scotland's most polluted streets have been revealed - despite major air quality improvements in cities.
Campaigners found Scotland as a whole had stayed within its legal air pollution limits last year - for the first time ever outside of 2020’s Covid lockdown.
But Friends of the Earth Scotland research found Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen still dominated the list of the country’s dirtiest streets in 2022.
That includes thoroughfares like Glasgow’s Hope Street, Queensferry Road in the capital and Aberdeen’s Union Street.
However, while Hope Street broke the legal limit for diesel pollution in 2021, last year it saw one of the biggest improvements in air quality.
It follows Glasgow becoming the first place in Scotland to launch a Low Emission Zone back in 2019, annually restricting more and more polluting buses.
Now every bus going through the city centre has to meet the minimum emission standard, with private cars to follow in June this year.
Gavin Thomson, transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s great that progress is being made to improve some of our most polluted streets.
“People in Glasgow can breathe a little easier as a result of the LEZ and fewer polluting vehicles in the city centre.
“The buses along Hope Street these days are often electric, which are better for the climate and for our lungs.
“The LEZs coming to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee will bring similar improvements and protections for public health.
“But for Scotland’s other cities such as Inverness and Perth, toxic air pollution persists with no clear plan for addressing it.”
Air pollution kills 2,500 Scots each year and puts kids, the elderly and the medically vulnerable at risk of serious health conditions, like asthma, heart attacks, and strokes.
The FoE Scotland study analysed official air pollution data for 2022 looking at two toxic pollutants primarily produced by transport - nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and fine particles.
The worst street for NO2 was Hope Street at 39 micrograms per cubic metre, followed by Edinburgh’s St John’s Street, Atholl Street in Perth and Dundee’s Lochee Road, all with 29.
Also featured were Glasgow’s Byres Road, Edinburgh’s Queensferry Road and Union Street in Aberdeen.
For fine particles, Atholl Street was the dirtiest with 16 micrograms per cubic metre, followed by the High Street in Ayr with 15.
Bonnygate in Cupar, Fife; Salamander Street in Edinburgh; Dundee’s Seagate; North High Street in Musselburgh, East Lothian; and the High Street in Johnstone, Renfrewshire were also listed.
Legal air quality standards came into force in 2010 but had previously been broken every single year since except 2020 - when lockdowns saw the volume of car journeys plummet. But provisional data suggests air quality across Scotland was within legal limits in 2022.
Joseph Carter, head of Asthma and Lung UK Scotland said: “It is good news this year that air pollution on our streets has been kept within its legal limits, yet there is obviously more that can be done.
"We need the Scottish Government to make tackling air pollution a national priority.
“Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to public health.
“At a cost of £1.1bn per year to the NHS, it is draining our resources, straining our health system and cutting short over 2,500 lives a year in Scotland.”
Dirtiest streets for Nitrogen Dioxide
Location / NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide Annual mean (micrograms per cubic metre)
Glasgow Hope St 39.24
Edinburgh St John's Road 29.26
Perth Atholl Street 29.15
Dundee Lochee Road 29.10
Glasgow Byres Road 27.53
Edinburgh Queensferry Road 26.86
Aberdeen Union Street 26.50
Dirtiest streets for fine particles (PM10)
Location / PM10 annual mean (micrograms per cubic metre)
Perth Atholl Street 15.89
Ayr High St 14.93
Edinburgh St John's Road 14.31
Cupar Bonnygate 14.27
Edinburgh Salamander St 14.26
Edinburgh Queensferry Road 13.92
Dundee Seagate 13.57
Musselburgh N High St 13.44
Aberdeen Union Street 13.02
Aberdeen King Street 12.95
Renfrewshire Johnston High St 12.88
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