Comparative Assessment of Environmental Distributive Impact of Air Pollution on Least/ Most Deprived Areas of Leeds and London, UK

The environmental impact of air pollution due to fine particulate matter PM10 (suspended particles less than 10µm) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) causes respiratory diseases and lung cancer resulting in thousands of premature deaths yearly. It is believed that the people living in economically/ technologically advanced areas are causing more pollution but are the least impacted due to healthy living conditions and facilities. In comparison, the people living in disadvantaged areas are not contributing largely to air pollution. Still, they are becoming victims of pollution caused by others in the least deprived areas due to air transportation/ lesser facilities/ reduced living conditions. This study has made an effort to analyse the statistics of NO2 and PM10 concentrations in Leeds and London in 2001 and 2011. Leeds data has shown that a marginal distributive impact based on the deprivation index is observed with an increasing trend from D1 to D10. Still, annual NO2 concentration was within the WHO limit of 40 µg/m3 in 2001 and 2011 with a decreasing trend, suggesting a good control of air pollution caused by fuel combustion in vehicles/ industries and maintaining a good number of green spaces. PM10 concentration in Leeds has been observed increasing from 2001 to 2011 but was still found under the permissible limits of WHO standards of 20 µg/m3. On the other hand, London has been observed with greater environmental injustice and distributive impacts of air pollution. NO2 concentration decreased from 2001 to 2011 under the WHO limit of 40 µg/m3. Still, the most deprived areas were most impacted by air pollution though having lesser contribution than the least deprived areas exhibiting the environmental injustice. The PM10 concentration increased from 2001 to 2011 above WHO limits of 20 µg/m3, again more in the most deprived areas and less in the least deprived areas. The study supports the conclusions from contemporary researchers that the people in the most deprived areas are impacted by the anthropogenic activities of the least deprived areas and are becoming victims of air pollution without their excessive contributions.