Notice

Avonmouth: dust monitoring

Updated 19 May 2015

Avonmouth: dust monitoring

The Environment Agency has been working with partners, including Bristol City Council and Public Health England, to determine whether there are health risks from air quality in Avonmouth.

The Environment Agency installed a mobile dust monitor in the port at Avonmouth in August 2014 following community concerns about dust. We have now completed our air quality and dust monitoring work in response to residents’ concerns and have removed our monitoring equipment from Avonmouth.

Our work has shown that air quality in Avonmouth is typical of an urban setting and should not give rise to increased risk of respiratory health problems.

The mobile dust monitor was in place for 4 months and was used to determine the concentrations of different sized particles in the air, coming from all wind directions. The different sized particles are known as PM10, PM 2.5 and Total Suspended Particulates. The equipment was able to measure levels of the different particles and it also showed the direction from which the dust was coming.

The dust monitoring equipment was used to:

• compare the local air quality with the objectives in the national Air Quality Strategy

• identify any local sources with a significant impact on air quality

• identify the impact of industrial sites on local air quality

• understand which weather conditions result in poor air quality

The Environment Agency is responsible for regulating certain industrial processes and for ensuring they do not have an impact on the environment or local community. Bristol City Council has overall responsibility for monitoring the background (or ambient) air quality in the area. Bristol City Council, therefore, also installed dust monitoring equipment near Portview Road in Avonmouth from September to December 2014 to give a fuller picture of dust issues affecting the area.

The Environment Agency has attended many meetings in Avonmouth, including a public meeting about air quality on 3 February 2015 at the Avonmouth Community Centre. This meeting was organised by Bristol City Council and chaired by local MP, Charlotte Leslie.

Results of the latest dust monitoring

The Environment Agency’s air quality data at Avonmouth were compared against data from Bristol City Council’s monitor at Avonmouth and a permanent air quality monitoring station in St Pauls, Bristol. Over the period 8 August to 5 December 2014 all 3 sites show a similar trend, although levels of a particular size of dust (known as particulate matter, PM10) were generally higher in Avonmouth.

In order to ensure air quality meets the UK Air Quality Strategy, both in the long and short term, there are two objectives for PM10 levels. One objective limits the average concentration over a year (the annual mean concentration) and the other limits the concentration over a 24 hour period. Both air quality monitors at Avonmouth show that air quality meets the objectives of the UK Air Quality Strategy for PM10.

The UK Air Quality Strategy uses an air quality index for PM10 levels, on a scale of 1 to 10 (to show low to high air pollution). The Environment Agency’s monitoring results show that air pollution at Avonmouth is classed as being ‘low’ for 99.2% of the time and ‘moderate’ for only 0.8% of the time.

The monitors also recorded dust particles of a smaller size, called PM2.5. For this size of dust the Environment Agency’s monitoring results show that air pollution at Avonmouth is classed as being ‘low’ throughout the whole monitoring period. Both air quality monitors at Avonmouth show that air quality meets the objectives of the UK Air Quality Strategy for PM2.5.

The monitors were able to identify some occasions when dust was recorded above background levels. The full report suggests that this dust could come from a number of sources, including from industrial sites at Avonmouth and from the M5 and A4 roads. The UK Air Quality Strategy states that the daily average level of PM10 must not exceed 50 micrograms per cubic metre on more than 35 occasions per year. At Avonmouth this level was exceeded just once in the monitoring period, and that was on 5 November (Bonfire Night).

At the February public meeting Public Health England and Bristol City Council’s public health representatives confirmed that recorded levels of dust in Avonmouth were below that which would pose a concern to public health and safety.

As the Environment Agency has no statutory responsibility for assessing background (ambient) air quality no further air quality or dust monitoring work in Avonmouth is planned. Bristol City Council has agreed to keep their equipment in place for a longer period and the Environment Agency understands that this work is ongoing. Bristol City Council is responsible for monitoring air quality across Bristol and will publish their findings in an annual report. The Environment Agency will be interested to see the results of their further work, which will be available later this year.

The Environment Agency’s remit is to inspect and regulate specific types of industrial activity that operate under an environmental permit, such as waste management sites. There are two waste sites with a permit in Bristol Port: Sims Metals (which breaks up waste metals for processing) and Boomeco (which is a chipped wood store at West Wharf). Both sites are currently compliant with their environmental permits. The Environment Agency will continue to inspect both sites to ensure that they remain compliant and continue to work with the operators so that they improve their performance and further reduce their impact on the environment.

Results of historic dust monitoring

In recent years, the Environment Agency has, on a number of occasions, collected samples of the dust which has been deposited in Avonmouth (deposition samples). This includes 7 samples of dust collected from Poole Street in 2012 and another 12 samples of dust collected from within Bristol Port in 2014. Each sample was inspected in an accredited laboratory. The range and quantity of dust present in each sample was analysed. The following broad types of dust particles were found in these samples:

• coal dust and granules

• vegetable matter including wood fibres, pollen, algae and fungi

• a variety of textile fibres

• a variety of plastic fragments

• dust that appears to be powdered brick

• glass shards and glass fibres

• insect fragments

• sand, quartz, and soil-like material

• paint fragments

• rust-coloured fragments

• an orange, crystalline material

Each deposition samples of dust weighed around a 50th to a 20th of a gram, and was collected over a 2-week period. While this is a small amount of dust, the 2 groups of samples, collected in different places across Avonmouth and 2 years apart, were very similar in terms of the composition of the dust found.

The Environment Agency has recently reviewed all the information colected about both airborne and deposited dust in Avonmouth. It has concluded that the type and quantity of dust particles is what you would reasonably expect to find in an urban setting. This includes a broad range of human-generated dusts alongside a variety of naturally occurring materials. The range of dust particles found in Avonmouth is not out of the ordinary and is similar to what you would expect to find across the city of Bristol.

The Environment Agency has not identified any dust at a concentration or of a type that allows it to be traced back to a specific commercial or industrial activity in the local area.

Contact

To report environmental incidents or concerns, such as dust issues, call the Environment Agency’s 24 hour incident Hotline 0800 807060.