In the era of Covid, keeping healthy is at the forefront of all of our minds.

As a society, we have become more and more aware of the invisible enemies that stalk us through the air, making sure to wear masks, keep our distance and maintain good hygiene to keep one step ahead of the virus that has affected our lives over the last few months. But what happens when the threat comes not from the air’s contents, but the air itself?

This is the issue with air pollution, where the air we breathe becomes contaminated with gases such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and small particles of matter. These compounds can have a variety of impacts on human health, including lung inflammation, triggering asthma, and in a landmark decision made recently, can be a cause of death.

As a result of this, you may believe that air pollution would be a key issue, closely monitored throughout the entirety of Test Valley. However, according to Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) figures, that’s not the case – at least for Andover.

Under the Environment Act 1995, all local authorities in England are legally required to monitor air quality in their area. TVBC does this by placing 17 diffusion tubes across the borough, where nitrogen dioxide passes through it and is absorbed over a period of weeks, with the absorption later analysed to infer the concentration of the gas in the air.

However, these tubes are not evenly distributed. Eight alone lie in Romsey, while five more are located in other areas in the south of the borough. Of the four in the north, one is in Weyhill, and another in Little Ann – leaving only two in Andover itself, on New Street and Humberstone Road.

The monitoring site on New Street, near to the railway bridge, had the the joint highest nitrogen dioxide concentration in Test Valley, at 34.37µg/m3. This is below the legal limit of 40.

This monitoring situation has been compounded in recent years, with other monitoring sites in Andover, such as on Alexandra Road and Barlows Lane, closed after 2019. As a result, our knowledge of air pollution in the town is limited, leading one councillor to describe Andover as being “a poor relation” of other areas of the borough.

“Air pollution is a contributory factor to many health problems,” said Cllr Luigi Gregori, who represents Harroway Ward on the town council, “yet to be able to combat it, TVBC has a duty to collect data.

“I am disappointed that in 2020, out of 17 monitoring stations only two were in Andover proper and one in Weyhill. The other 14 are in the south. Yet again, Andover is a poor relation.

“The council tells us it is monitoring trunk roads and urban centres, but that is not correct for Andover. I believe that the council really needs to up its game.”

The lack of monitoring extends to the pollutants themselves, with TVBC only monitoring nitrogen dioxide. In a statement in the 2020 air quality report, the council notes that “the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in the Test Valley area is 5.2 per cent,” as of 2018.

While these figures are lower than the South East as a whole, at 5.6 per cent, and equivalent to the English average, it still represents a factor in a significant number of deaths that is currently unmonitored at a local level.

However, this may soon change, with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) concluding TVBC should collaborate with Public Health England “to identify potential areas of concern within the borough where air quality might have a direct link with the incidence of asthma.”

Defra also said, when reviewing the 2019 report, that “it would be reasonable to review the current program,” noting significant trunk routes, such as the A303, as potential sites for monitoring in Test Valley.

Cllr Gregori concurred with this, calling on TVBC to “[choose] its monitoring stations with more care.”

He also called on the council to install equipment to continuously monitor air pollution, rather than using the diffusion tubes which are only open for certain periods of the month, adding that this “may be cheaper”.

The councillor’s view on monitoring was shared by air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates, from Friends of the Earth.

She told the Advertiser: “Air pollution is bad for everyone, but especially for people already ill, so continued monitoring and action is more important than ever given COVID is a respiratory pandemic and more people will have damaged lungs. We also know people who live in areas of very poor air quality seem more at risk from worsened Covid outcomes.”

She called on the council to cut pollution further than legal standards require them to, saying that there were “still health implications at lower levels.”

Responding to the Advertiser’s request for comment, TVBC’s housing and environmental health portfolio holder, Cllr Phil Bundy, said: “The sites across the borough were chosen based on guideline criteria, which tends to favour monitoring at sites where people live close to the busiest roads.

“As a result, a larger proportion of these sites happened to be in the south of the borough. The monitoring locations are reviewed periodically and the next review will be taking place in the spring. There’s a lot of value in monitoring long-term trends, too, to be able to look closer on a like-for-like basis, which means keeping sites unchanged if possible.”