Benzene results - diffusion tube sampling

Benzene monitoring ceased in Richmond borough in 2012 as compliance had been achieved for some years. The downward trend continued and further monitoring was not considered necessary.

From 1991 until 2012, Richmond Council monitored benzene at five locations(pdf, 364KB), as part of the London-wide Benzene Monitoring Programme. All results are below.

London-Wide Environment Programme annual benzene reports

The main objective of the Benzene Monitoring Programme was to determine the ambient concentrations of benzene that people were exposed to in urban areas. The programme was initiated in response to continuing concern that people living in urban areas were often exposed to elevated concentrations of benzene, which was a known human carcinogen.

The reports include background information about benzene, sources of benzene, health effects, air quality standards and sampling results. The results are quoted in ug/m3.

Historical reports

Benzene diffusion tube results

The following results are raw data from the laboratory analysis of the 5 benzene tubes located in the borough. The results run from January to December and include results from other related organic compounds i.e. toluene, ethyl benzene, M+p-Xylene and o-Xylene that were also sampled.

Benzene annual average concentration graph

The graph represents the annual average concentration of benzene from 2002 to 2011. The results indicate there has been a steady decrease in benzene concentrations over this monitoring period. In 2003 the annual average for the first time, fell below the 2010 air quality objective of 5ug/m³.

2002 to 2011 annual average benzene results(pdf, 18KB)

Up to: Air quality monitoring and data

Updated: 11 January 2021

Stay up to date! Make sure you subscribe to our email updates.