Air Quality

The quality of the air we breathe can significantly affect our health and wellbeing. In general air quality in Southampton is good, but some parts of the city can be affected by local pollution.

The major source of air pollution in Southampton are road transport emissions, especially Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). Domestic gas boilers, industrial emissions particularly from the waterside and shipping emissions also contribute towards the total.

Southampton City Council has a statutory duty to review and assess air quality in Southampton and this function is undertaken by the Environmental Health Service.

Details of the activities undertaken can be found on the links to the left.

For details of today's air quality in Southampton click on the image to the left. This information is obtained from our network of 5 real-time monitoring stations

Southampton City Council has provided the Air Alert service across the city since June 2010. Asthma sufferers and other vulnerable groups can subscribe to this for free and receive text messages when air quality is predicted to be poor.

A customer satisfaction survey was completed in July 2011 and 70% of users reported that it helped them manage their respiratory illness and 89% said they would recommend the service.