New research shows that people on the lowest incomes in Wales are breathing in the most polluted air. Friends of the Earth identified all the Welsh neighbourhoods that are breaching the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2021 recommended limits for nitrogen oxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The data, released by Healthy Air Cymru. paints a terrifying picture of the air quality in Wales.
Most neighbourhoods in Wales (1,594 of 1,909) are above the PM2.5 WHO guidelines and 261 neighbourhoods are above the NO2 WHO levels (10 µg/m3). The analysis showed that air pollution disproportionately affects lower income and more deprived areas and affects neighbourhoods with higher ethnic minority populations.
For PM2.5 people of colour are 2.5 times more likely to live in a highly-polluted neighbourhood than a white person and are five times more likely to live in an NO2 polluted neighbourhood. Households in neighbourhoods with the worst air pollution are also less likely to own a car than those in the least polluted areas who are disproportionately causing air pollution from car use.
