(Don't) Breathe In the Air

One of the Radio 4 programmes I worked on today had me a bit worried, considering I have spent much of my adult life in and around London. New research from Kings College suggests that Oxford Street is one of the most polluted streets in the world, with Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels on a par with Beijing. Inside Science sent reporter Marnie Chesterton on a bicycle around the streets near Broadcasting House with an air pollution monitor and a doctor from Bart's Hospital, and afterwards the results were discussed in the studio with presenter Adam Rutherford.

Immediately after putting the recorded programme into the Radio 4 schedule for this afternoon's transmission, I ventured out into Oxford Street wondering if I should have put on an oxygen mask. The busker in my blipfoto must have been taking in great gulps of air to play his saxophone, but didn't seem bothered about the toxic cocktail he was breathing into his lungs. He obviously hadn't heard our programme or read the papers.

After my break, I did the sound on the first live edition of Front Row to come from Studio 50D after its digital update over the past few days. It's always a worrying moment when you go on air with a brand new system, but I managed to work my way around a sampling rate problem whilst preparing material beforehand, and all went very smoothly during the transmission at a quarter past seven this evening.

From breathing in air pollution to being driven mad by wayward digits - it's all in a day's work for a Radio girl...

Here's some lovely calming music from Pink Floyd - with at least one part in particular fitting quite nicely into today's theme.