London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Chislehurst 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Chislehurst]
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40
The Council continues to be represented on the Thames-side
Joint Committee for the Abatement of Atmospheric Pollution.
The main aim of this Committee is to lessen the pollution caused
by the cement factories, on and near, the Thames Estuary.
The Deposit gauge situated at North Cray indicates that solid
matter dropped there is less in quantity than when the gauge was
installed in 1953, although a part of this improvement may well
be due to variations in weather.
During the year a further Deposit gauge and a Sulphur
Dioxide gauge were provided in Blackfen. By and large, these
instruments give parallel readings to those at North Cray.
The total of solids deposited at North Cray averages 13.234
tons per month for the twelve months (as against 14.97 tons in
1955), whilst at Lamorbey (for seven months) it was 11.997 tons
per sq. mile per month.
The manner in which the amount of deposited solids varies
from month to month, can be seen from the accompanying tables
and graphs.
Monthly deposit in tons per square mile during 1956.
| June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (in rain in inches) | 2.95 | 3.57 | 4.76 | 2.21 | 1.21 | 0.59 | 2.36 |
| pH Value | 5.30 | 7.02 | 7.16 | 7.28 | 5.26 | 5.48 | 4.02 |
| Total water in soluble matter | 7.33 | 6.97 | 7.03 | 4.49 | 5.29 | 6.69 | 4.71 |
| Soluble in CS2 | 0.09 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.09 |
| Ash | 5.01 | 4.87 | 5.43 | 3.47 | 3.72 | 4.75 | 3.18 |
| Other combustible matter | 2.24 | 1.99 | 1.50 | 0.97 | 1.48 | 1.89 | 1.44 |
| Total water soluble matter | 5.03 | 5.91 | 8.19 | 6.38 | 5.60 | 5.34 | 5.03 |
| Ca+ + | 0.60 | 1.21 | 1.34 | 1.28 | 0.77 | 0.84 | 0.60 |
| CI' | 0.67 | 1.01 | 1.21 | 0.60 | 0.81 | 0.81 | 1.21 |
| SO"4 | 2.20 | 2.65 | 3.15 | 2.77 | 2.30 | 1.99 | 1.88 |
| Total solids | 12.36 | 12.87 | 15.22 | 10.87 | 10.89 | 12.02 | 9.75 |
| Sulphur Dioxide (milligrams of sulphur trioxide collected per day by 100 sq. cms. of Batch A lead peroxide) | 0.86 | 0.70 | 1.01 | 2.10 | 3.52 | 2.37 |