The air quality is monitored at numerous locations around the city, with figures published by Leeds City Council in its Air Quality Annual Status Report.
Unlike many councils, Leeds City Council does not appear to have published its latest report in full online.
But an executive summary is available on the council website, listing the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at 11 locations around the city.
Below are the areas of Leeds with the worst air pollution based on this data, listed in reverse order.
At all of these locations, NO2 levels are above the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit of 10 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) - in most cases, significantly so.
At one spot, the concentration of NO2 matches the legal threshold in the UK of 40 µg/m3.
It should be noted that figures have actually been published for 12 air quality monitoring sites around Leeds, but since two of those are at Leeds Corn Exchange, we have counted this as a single site in our list.
7. International Pool - joint 4th
The International Pool site is the joint 4th most polluted of the 11 locations for which Leeds City Council has published air quality data. The 30 µg/m3 annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide recorded there in 2023 is three times the WHO's recommended limit. | Google Photo: Google
8. Bishopgate Street - joint 4th
Bishopgate Street is the joint 4th most polluted of the 11 locations for which Leeds City Council has published air quality data. The 30 µg/m3 annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide recorded there in 2023 is three times the WHO's recommended limit. | Google Photo: Google
9. Jack Lane, Hunslet - 3rd
Jack Lane, Hunslet, is the 3rd most polluted of the 11 locations for which Leeds City Council has published air quality data. The 34 µg/m3 annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide recorded there in 2023 is more than three times the WHO's recommended limit. | Google Photo: Google
10. Leeds Corn Exchange - 2nd
Leeds Corn Exchange is the 2nd most polluted of the 11 locations for which Leeds City Council has published air quality data. The 39 µg/m3 annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide recorded there in 2023 is nearly four times the WHO's recommended limit. There are actually two sites at Leeds Corn Exchange for which air quality data has been published, but only one of these sites has data for 2023, so we have used that latest figure. | Google Photo: Google
11. Haslewood Close - 1st
Haslewood Close, just off the A64(M), is the most polluted of the 11 locations for which Leeds City Council has published air quality data. The 40 µg/m3 annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide recorded there in 2018 is four times the WHO's recommended limit and matches the UK limit. It should be noted that no data for this location has been published for the years since 2018, so the air quality may well have improved there as it has elsewhere, though there is no evidence this is the case. | Google Photo: Google