Good Vibe, Bad Atmosphere at Hanwell Carnival
Ealing Friends of the Earth say marred by surge in pollution across west London
A young visitor to Ealing Friends of the Earth’s stall, takes a reading from the PM2.5 meter
June 23, 2023
While hailing the Hanwell Carnival as being, as usual, great fun, the local Friends of the Earth group is warning that air quality measures it took on the day raised cause for concern.
The group had a stall at the event on Saturday (17 June) which was equipped with a large cardboard meter scale on which to display readings from a portable air quality monitor. The readings given were often well above official health guidelines.
Earlier in the week The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan had triggered a ‘high’ air pollution alert as London experienced the effects of pollution which has travelled in from the continent alongside a build-up of local emissions and sunny weather with high temperatures.
He was acting on the advice of Imperial College London forecasters who told him there was a strong likelihood of high ozone levels, caused by the hot, sunny weather and south-easterly winds blowing existing pollutants from the continent towards London.
Ealing Friends of the Earth don’t believe that the air quality at the carnival was any worse than other parts of the borough despite the use of diesel generators and the grilling of food at the site.
A spokesperson for the group said, “We made the cardboard display scale go up to 30 which we thought would be more than enough since that’s six times the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline. But while most readings were between 20 and 30, we got peaks of well over 50 – way off the scale.”
“We were measuring PM2.5 - particulate matter of 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter. The WHO guideline states that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 µg/m3. PM2.5 is a dangerous pollutant because it can penetrate the lung barrier and enter the blood system, causing cardiovascular and respiratory disease and cancers.”
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The spokesperson added, “We want to stress that this was not the fault of the Carnival. Although we had wondered if diesel generators or grilling food at the carnival had pushed up the levels, we got similar high readings elsewhere in Ealing Borough, even in quiet back streets. London-wide pollution monitoring websites also reported very high PM2.5.
“Only staying indoors with the windows shut would have reduced your exposure somewhat.”
Website IQAir signalled PM2.5 levels on Saturday that were 4.6 times the WHO guideline.
Ealing Friends of the Earth is backing measures such as the ULEZ which it says will improve air quality in London.
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