FOUR of the top five most polluted GP practices in England are located in Barrow according to a recent study.

New analysis of air pollution data produced by the environmental cities network UK100 has revealed that the Atkinson Health Centre, Norwood Medical Centre, Duke Street Surgery and The Family Practice in Barrow are among four of the top five GP Surgeries with the worst levels of PM2.5 air pollution in England.

PM2.5 are minuscule particles invisible to the naked eye that are small enough to pass through the lungs, and enter the bloodstream.

According to Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation, recent evidence shows that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is even more harmful to peoples health than nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

The study revealed for levels of PM2.5 Atkinson Health Centre scored 16.85, Norwood Medical Centre scored 16.71, Duke Street Surgery scored16.17 and The Family Practice scored 16.17 when the World Health Organisation’s limit is 10μg/m3 for the annual average.

Dr Woods said: “It’s just not acceptable that nearly 18 million people are breathing unsafe levels of air pollution when seeking medical care from their GP. We know that our society’s most vulnerable people –especially children, the elderly and those with heart and lung problems –are most at risk from air pollution. More must be done to keep them and health care staff safe."

However, there are other contributing factors towards higher levels of PM2.5. Dr Woods, said: “In urban areas, the largest contributor to PM2.5 is exhaust fumes from tyres and breaks wearing down on the roads. Other sources include industrial emissions, wood-burning, farming, coal plants, and sea-spray."

Colin Cox, the county’s director of public health also said that Barrow had a high level of particulates, but a lot of this was “salt spray.”

In response to these findings Barrow MP John Woodcock said: “The suggestion from this survey that Barrow has amongst the worst pockets of these very harmful pollutants is surprising, particularly given the area has prided itself on having better than average air quality with its proximity to the Lake District and the sea.

"I hope the council and environmental team will do further urgent work to show with more certainty precisely how bad the problem is, and how much of this is simply the result of sea spray in the air.

“But air pollution is a hidden and largely unlamented killer claiming thousands of lives across the country each year so it is worrying to see any build-up of these noxious particles associated with traffic emissions."