Vulnerable Oldham residents have been warned to limit outdoor activity today due to increased air pollution.
This is due to the fact concentrations of ozone are expected to be higher than recommended.
It comes on the same day as the annual Clean Air Day – the UK’s largest air pollution campaign.
Higher concentrations of ground-level ozone can lead to asthma attacks and inflammation.
It can form when emissions from human sources – such as industrial facilities or vehicle exhausts – chemically react in the presence of sunlight, especially on hot sunny days.
ALSO READ: Oldham set to be hit by heatwave this weekend.
Advice from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) states: “Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, who experience symptoms, should consider reducing strenuous physical activity, particularly outdoors.”
However, the general population are advised they can continue to enjoy their usual outdoor activities.
Previous research has also suggested that those inside cars are exposed to a greater concentration of air pollution than those outside them, such as pedestrians.
Air pollution in much of Oldham, as well as parts of Tameside and Manchester, is forecast to be 4, or ‘moderate’, on the daily air quality index – though much of the city-region remains ‘low’ on the index.
Clean Air Greater Manchester say air pollution contributes to at least 1,200 early deaths in Greater Manchester each year, with an estimated £5.3 billion health and social care cost by 2035.
In March, a public consultation was announced after the delay of Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone – with £186,000 spent on stickers to cover up out-of-date signs.
A spokesperson for active travel organisation Walk Ride Greater Manchester said: “Manchester is one of the most congested cities in the UK, even though nearly half of households in Manchester don’t even have access to a car or van.
“High volumes of traffic involving predominantly petrol and diesel vehicles are a huge contributor to air pollution.
“With levels in Greater Manchester currently exceeding the new World Health Organization guidelines for air pollutants, we would urge our councils to do everything they can to encourage people to ditch the car and choose active travel.”
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