‘Danger to health’ warning issued as ‘extreme’ air pollution recorded in Sheffield on Bonfire Night

The Air Quality Index (AQI) for the city reached 293, according to the World Air Map produced by Plume Labs, which is nearly 15 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended exposure levels.

The Plume Labs website warned that pollution in Sheffield, which peaked at around 11pm yesterday, Thursday, November 5, had reached ‘extreme’ levels with ‘immediate effects on health’.

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People were advised not to take part in outdoor sports, bring their babies out or eat outside.

The air quality has since improved but at 8am this morning, Friday, November 6, the AQI remained at 70, which is three-and-a-half times the WHO threshold and deemed as ‘poor’.

Other measures also showed alarmingly high levels of pollution in the city on Bonfire Night.

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According to the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, the level of harmful fine particulates in the air at Devonshire Green peaked at 244 micrograms per cubic metre, while on Barnsley Road they reached 236 μg/m3.

The WHO threshold for such pollution, which is known as PM2.5 and causes cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as well as cancers, is an annual mean of 10 μg/m3 or a 24-hour mean of 25 μg/m3.

The campaign group Clean Air for Sheffield said pollution had reached dangerous levels even indoors on Bonfire Night.

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"It's actually 66 ug/m3 INSIDE my house right now,” the group tweeted yesterday evening.

“WHO recommends 10 as an annual average. 60% of health effects happen below 7. #BonfireNight2020 continues.”