Do you live in one of the UK’s most polluted towns?

Manchester, Swansea, Leeds and Liverpool
among cities breathing unsafe air, according to WHO report

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The organisation measures air quality according to the
proportion of fine particle emissions found in the air.

The particles, generated by activities like manufacturing,
transport and burning wood, “are linked to diseases including
stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and disease, and respiratory
infections” says the London Evening Standard.

WHO compared data from more than 4,300 towns and cities in 108
countries to compile what it believes is “the world’s most
comprehensive database on ambient air pollution”, CNN reports.

A total of 32 UK towns and cities tested
exceeded the safe emissions limit of 10 micrograms per cubic
metre.

Despite London’s well-publicised pollution
problem, the traffic-choked capital only came in at joint-24th in
the ranking.

Instead, the dubious honour of first place went
to Port Talbot. Air in the Welsh steel town was found to contain 18
micrograms of emissions per cubic metre in 2015, the latest
available figures.

Two more former manufacturing hubs, Scunthorpe
and Salford, came in joint second, followed by Thurrock, Essex and
Gibraltar, both with 14mg per cubic metre.

Here are the 32 UK towns and cities with unsafe
levels of air pollution in 2015:

• Port Talbot: 18 micrograms per cubic metre
• Scunthorpe: 15
• Salford: 15
• Gibraltar: 14
• Thurrock: 14
• Manchester: 13
• Swansea: 13
• Gillingham: 13
• Carlisle: 12
• Chepstow: 12
• Leeds: 12
• Leicester: 12
• Liverpool: 12
• Grays: 12
• Eccles: 12
• Nottingham: 12
• Plymouth: 12
• York: 12
• Prestonpans: 12
• Royal Leamington Spa: 12
• Sandy: 12
• Sheffield: 12
• Stoke-On-Trent: 12
• London:11
• Coventry: 11
• Hull: 11
• Londonderry: 11
• Middlesbrough: 11
• Norwich: 11
• Southend-On-Sea: 11
• Stockton-On-Tees: 11
• Storrington: 11
• Wigan: 11

The UK figures pale in comparison to the world’s
most polluted cities, most of them in the developing
world.

Muzaffarpur in India recorded a figure of 197
micrograms of fine particle emissions per cubic metre in 2015,
although this figure is under revision. Pasakha in Bhutan took
second place with 150, followed by Delhi and Cairo.

WHO found that “98% of cities in low- and
middle income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not
meet WHO air quality guidelines”, compared to 56% in high-income
nations.

In a statement, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said: “Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest
and most marginalised people bear the brunt of the
burden”.