London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kingston upon Thames 1949

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kingston-upon-Thames]

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TABLE I. Smoke Abatement.

MonthDeposit in Tons per Sq. mile.Wind DirectionRainfall in inches.
Insoluble SolidsSoluble SolidsTotal SolidsNo. of observations.No. of times wind from SE. to SW.
l948.
June15.1011.6526.7590301.70
July11.36ll.7823.149334.75
August11.4011.9323.3393353.38
September18.6613.2731.9390461.24
October17.6212. 4430.0693372.24
November13.738.1721.9090401.60
December22.7918.7941.5893502.75
1949
January10.435.4415.8793420.70
February12.006.7018.7084361.01
March6.406.5512.9593170.93
April11.848.5620.4090351.56
May13.668.5822.2493352.15
June10.8311.1822.0190280.70
July11.2710.9222.1993201.19
August Apparatus out of commission
September10.868.5719.4390370.49
October16.569.8226.3893755.12
November15.478.3623.8390482.23
December13.147.4120.5593441.43
Total (1949)132.4692.09224.5517.51
Average (1949)12.048.3720.411.59

It is, as yet, too soon to draw conclusions from the
limited data obtained, but there is reason to believe that
at times when the wind is from the direction between S.E.
and S.W. and in wet weather (which usually accompanies a
S.W.wind) the amount of deposit in the gauge is increased.
Conversely, when those two conditions are absent, there is
a corresponding reduction in the recorded deposit.
One fact is abundantly clear, however, namely that the
local atmosphere contains more pollution than is generally
realised. The gauge showed that the average monthly
deposit at Canbury Gardens was equivalent to 20.41 tons
per square mile, or, if it is assumed that the pollution
is evenly spread over the whole of the Borough, then the
total amount would be 44.3 tons per month and 531.6 tons
per annum. To meet the criticism that the figures given
are probably on the high side for the Borough as a whole,
similar calculations based on the lowest recorded month
(March 1949) give a monthly total of 28.1 tons and 337.2
tons per annum, truly formidable amounts of deposit in a
Borough such as Kingston. The results so far indicate the
need to arouse the public conscience in the field of smoke
abatement and it is submitted that they also Justify the
action already taken by your Corporation.
They also point to the need for joint action by all
interested bodies. In this connection it became apparent
that the British Electricity Authority had taken steps to
obtain similar data at various points in the neighbourhood