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40 REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR 1959
public and householders have been most co-operative with the
Council's staff. There does indeed seem to be a general realisation
that the time has come when the air of London must be cleared of
smoke and while it is yet early days (perhaps one should say early
years), if this work proceeds with the same impetus as it has started,
our original forecasts of the time it would take for the whole of the
Borough to be converted into a Smoke Control area might prove to
have been pessimistic rather than optimistic.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 12(2) of the Clean
Air Act, 1956, six notices were served in connection with premises
within the Council's first smoke control area requiring works of
adaptation to fireplaces.
These works were considered reasonably necessary in order to
avoid contravention of the provisions of Section 11 relating to
offences in smoke control areas.
The notices have been complied with.
New Furnaces
Under Section 3 of the Clean Air Act, application may be made
to the local authority for prior approval to the installation of a
furnace. Five applications, together with plans or specifications, were
received during the year and as the Council were satisfied that the
proposed installations conform with the provisions of the Act,
approval was given in each case.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 3(3), notices of intention
to install a furnace were received in respect of seven premises.
Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution
The investigations into atmospheric pollution have continued in
collaboration with the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research.
There are five stations of recording apparatus in different parts of
the Borough and the concentrations of smoke and sulphur dioxide
(S02) in the atmosphere is recorded daily. The results are averaged
over a month and the monthly returns are made to the Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research.
This work has been proceeding for the last three or four years and
when readings from many areas are collated, considerable information
of value will ultimately be available and it will be interesting to
see what effect the Clean Air Act may have on these figures.
The readings of smoke and sulphur dioxide (S02) taken during
the year for the five stations is given in Table 1.
In connection with the readings, a chart is given in Table II which
shows for comparison the recordings taken at Fairfield Street and
at Streatham.