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
Islington 1970
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington Borough]
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48
ATMOSPHERIC LEAD CONTAMINATION - UPPER STREET
All grades of petrol as sold today at garages contain additive materials such as tetra-ethyl or tetra-methyl,
lead organo-metallic agents which are successful in preventing "knock" in high compression engines.
In order to ascertain whether there was any danger to residents or persons continually working in the
Upper Street area, by inhaling lead or absorbing lead by ingestion an investigation was started in 1968. An 8
port valve smoke recording instrument was set up on the second floor of the departments offices facing
Upper Street — a busy main road — and the daily filter paper stains were sent each month to the public
analyst.
The table below shows the result of this three-year exercise. It indicates that there does not appear to be
any danger to inhabitants of this borough from atmospheric lead contamination bearing in mind the
Technical Report of California Standards for Ambient Air Quality (State of California 1960) which
suggested an estimated standard of six microgrammes per cubic metre as a permissible maximum: —
| 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.3 | 1.18 | 0.71 |
| February | 0.9 | 0.89 | 0.57 |
| March | 0.85 | 0.48 | 0.64 |
| April | 0.85 | 0.54 | 0.83 |
| May | 0.74 | 0.47 | 0.65 |
| June | 0.49 | 0.36 | 0.50 |
| July | 0.52 | 0.46 | 0.95 |
| August | 0.20 | 0.41 | 0.84 |
| September | 0.21 | 0.70 | 0.75 |
| October | 1.04 | 1.58 | 1.10 |
| November | 1.14 | 0.77 | 0.97 |
| December | 1.05 | 0.58 | 1.50 |
FUMES FROM BARNSBURY TRAFFIC SCHEME
When the Barnsbury Traffic Scheme came into operation, Batchelor Street became a one-way Street and
a complaint was received from a resident that the increased exhaust fumes given off from the motor
vehicles could be harmful to health.
The scientific branch of the Greater London Council was approached and agreed to measure the
concentration of the two major pollutants, smoke and carbon monoxide, for a week from a sampling point
eight feet above pavement level at the face of 32 Batchelor Street.
The results showed carbon monoxide concentrations to be low, usually between 0 and 5 p.p.m. (parts
per million by volume), and the highest value recorded was 10 p.p.m.,on the evening of Friday, 16th
October. Daily averages of smoke varied from 40 microgrammes of equivalent standard urban smoke per
cubic metre on Monday 19th October, to 270 microgrammes per cubic metre on Saturday 17th October.
Both the pollutants measured are emitted in greater quantities from chimneys and are present in the
atmosphere as a general background concentration. In the opinion of the Scientific Advisor, the fumes from
traffic at 32 Batchelor Street gave little cause for complaint.