Dundee’s air is becoming cleaner and the council is demanding the improvement in traffic pollution continues.
A report to the environment committee this week showed a reduction in levels of nitrogen dioxide and soot and dust particles from fuel.
Councillor Craig Melville, convener of environment, said: “This indicates that the measures the council have brought in over the past few years are starting to bear fruit with certain of the pollutants that are tested for.
“However, we are in no way complacent and the action plan discussed at the committee lays out a thorough and wide-ranging series of measures to continue progress.”
Cities have to lower pollution levels to meet national air quality (NAQ) standards, and in Dundee the issue was at the forefront of the recent debate into the harbour biomass plant.
Forth Energy believed the plant should be allowed as the level of nitrogen dioxide it would release would be negligible compared to the level from traffic the council is trying to reduce.
The biomass plant has been sent for a public inquiry, and the council’s efforts to reduce NO2 emissions to make the city’s air cleaner have continued.
Director of environment Ken Laing said that of the seven NAQ standards there was no risk of exceeding the statutory objectives for benzene, carbon monoxide, butadiene, sulphur dioxide and lead.
Ratified data for realtime monitors showed a reduction in pollution concentrations since 2011, but NO2 and particulates.were above the recommended levels.
Levels of particulates were higher at Meadowside, Stannergate and Seagate, and Lochee Road showed a higher level of NO2. Steps to improve the situation include lterations to the north-west arterial route and traffic light changes at Lochee Road and Seagate.
Introducing hybrid electric vehicles to bus fleets will help, as will more electric cars and vans.
There is also a new plan for freight transport.
Scientists have found that being exposed to levels well below European air quality limits is still a major health risk, however.
Research published in The Lancet examining 20 years of data from 360,000 city residents showed an increase of five microgrammes per cubic metre in annual exposure to fine-particle air pollution raises the risk of death by natural causes 7%.
Lead researcher Dr Rob Beelen, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said: “Our findings support health impact assessments of fine particles in Europe previously based almost entirely on North American studies.”
Dr Jeremy Langrish and Dr Nicholas Mills, from the British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences at Edinburgh University, said: “Despite major improvements in air quality in the past 50 years, the data draw attention to the continuing effects of air pollution on health.
“These data, along with the findings from other large cohort studies, suggest that further public and environmental health policy interventions are necessary.”