THESE are the most polluted streets in Scotland, campaigners say.

In a new report, Friends of the Earth Scotland says that while air pollution levels hit a historic low in 2020 as Scotland locked down, they reverted to being rule-bustingly high in some roads last year.

Gavin Thomson, transport campaigner at the environmental charity, said: "From the evidence we have, virtually every street in Scotland experienced higher levels of pollution in 2021 than the previous year."

The claims are based on the analysis of data collected by air quality monitors for levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate pollution (PM10), both of which are associated with emissions from cars and buses.

 

The European Ambient Air Quality Directive sets the legal limit for NO2 at 40micrograms per cubic metre of air (mcg/m3).

In Glasgow's Hope Street the 2021 level reached 45.411 mcg/m3, giving it the highest level in the country.

Lochee Road in Dundee had the second highest concentration of NO2 at 31.840, followed by Falkirk's West Bridge Street, Atholl Street in Perth and Seagate in Dundee.

Meanwhile, Salamander Street in the capital was found to be worst for PM10 levels at 15.4 mcg/m3, which left it close to the legal limit of 18 mcg/m3.

Atholl Street, Perth, was second-worst for this pollutant, followed by Glasgow Kerbside, part of Hope Street, Bonnygate in Cupar and Wellington Road, Aberdeen.

Legal air quality standards have been in place since 2010 but have been breached every year since then — barring 2020.

Both pollutants measured are associated with lung problems as well as environmental damage.

Thomson says reducing these levels "means things like using the review of the planning system in Scotland which is currently taking place to stop out-of-town developments and drive-thru coffee shops that are entirely car dependent, make it easier for councils to introduce safe walking and cycling measures, and to use public space better".