THE MP for the Vale of Clwyd has called for more action on improving air quality after main roads in the constituency recorded pollution levels significantly higher than the World Health Organisation recommended level.

Dr James Davies joined the British Heart Foundation’s AirSpeck campaign in a number of towns as part of its comprehensive review of fine particulate matter the size of 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) in the UK.

It can include dust, dirt, soot, and smoke about 30 times smaller than the average human hair.

The monitoring found that daily exposure to fine particulate matter was in most places relatively low at 11 to 43 micrograms of matter per cubic metre.

However near a number of main roads in Denbigh, St Asaph and Prestatyn there were recorded levels up to 10 times greater than the current EU Clean Air Policy at 25 mg/m³, and more than 20 times the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended levels at 10 mg/m³.

The roads included Prestatyn High Street, which had 241.64 mg/m³; the A525 in St Asaph with 205.02 mg/m³; Vale Street in Denbigh with 99.37 mg/m³ and along the River Elwy in St Asaph with 88.52 mg/m³.

The figures put the average level of PM2.5 at 6.45 mg/m³, ranking 536 out of 650 constituencies in the UK.

Dr Davies said at the parliamentary reading of the Environment Bill on February 26 that the new British Heart Foundation figures are “concerning” and welcomed the plan to introduce a new legally binding target for PM2.5 levels by 2022, though a target has not yet been confirmed.

Campaigners including Friends of the Earth have urged the UK Government to adopt the WHO limit within the next 10 years.

“I have read with interest the BHF’s new report on the harmful effects air pollution has on our health,” said Dr Davies, a former GP.

“While average levels of fine particulate matter within the air in the Vale of Clwyd do not exceed the WHO guideline limits, there are occasions, particularly near to main roads, when levels do potentially pose a risk to health.

“It is clear that decisive action must be taken in tackling this country-wide public health problem.”