[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton].

  • Leyton (London, England). Municipal Borough.
Date:
[1953?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    78/170 (page 76)
    76 In my Annual Report for 1951 I recorded a reduction of 9.3 per cent. in smoke pollution and of 7.5 per cent. in sulphur dioxide, compared with the year 1950. For the 11 months ended 30th November, 1952 there was again a slight reduction (1.5 per cent.) in the amount of both smoke and sulphur dioxide, compared with the corresponding period of 1951. But for the whole year 1952 there was an increase in smoke pollution of 2.6 per cent., and in sulphur dioxide of 6.6 per cent, compared with 1951. This increase was due to the dense fog which enveloped Leyton and the greater part of Metropolitan London during the five days from 5th to 9th December (inclusive). The following graphs show the monthly variation of smoke and sulphur dioxide pollution of the atmosphere recorded at Sidmouth Road, Leyton, during each of the past three years. Excluding the exceptional increase in the pollution of the air in December 1952 (which includes the five-day fog), the graphical representations of the smoke and sulphur dioxide content of the atmosphere varied little from year to year. They show— (а) that atmospheric pollution is at its lowest during the six summer months from May to September; (b) that from September it increases rapidly to its pollution peak in December; and (c) that the three months of greatest pollution are November, December and January. In other words, there is a close correlation between the variation in atmospheric pollution and domestic heating throughout the year. Further information on the five-day fog, and its effect on the health of the population, is to be found on pages 52 to 58.