Evaluating impact on air quality

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Scope

Does the option have an effect on emissions of acidifying, eutrophying, photochemical or harmful air pollutants that might affect human health, damage crops or buildings or lead to deterioration in the environment (polluted soil or rivers etc)?

Definition

From a human health perspective, the main outstanding air pollution problems are particulate matter (very small particles, which, if inhaled might cause lunge diseases), tropospheric ozone (ozone near ground level) and photochemical smog. Smog has been an important air quality issue in metropolitan areas and large cities for several decades. The accepted indicator of smog level is the concentration of ozone, which is its major constituent. In contrast to the beneficial effects of stratospheric ozone, tropospheric or ground level ozone can adversely affect human health. Ground level ozone can also have adverse effects on building materials and vegetation.

A relatively small number of different pollutants (SOx, NOx, NHx, NMVOC) and some fine particulates are the main causes of environmental impacts that strongly affect ecosystems. Emissions from burning fossil fuel, e.g. sulfur (SOx) as well as nitrogen oxides (NOx) from vehicle exhaust fumes, industrial boilers and power stations, react with other gases in the atmosphere and form acids. While terrestrial eutrophication is mainly caused by ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), acidification potentials are highest for sulfur dioxide (SO2) air emissions. Through disposal via rain, air pollutants and their acids accumulate in soil and water and critical loads are exceeded in some areas. Those can then lead to irreversable destruction of the affected ecosystems.

Result

Indicators:

The following Eurostat Sustainable Development Indicators are relevant to address the key question:

• Urban population exposure to air pollution by particulate matter (Data covering EU 27 for 1999-2006)
• Urban population exposure to air pollution by ozone (Data covering EU 27 for 1999-2006)
• Emissions of ozone precursors from transport (Data covering EU 25 for 1994 - 2005)
• Emissions of particulate matter from transport (Data covering EU 25 for 1993 - 2004)
• Greenhouse gas emissions by transport mode (Data covering EU 27 for 1995 - 2006)

Additional Links:

The following Eurostat Theme Indicators are relevant to the key question:

• Air emissions (Data covering EU 25, EFTA members, accession countries and others for 1990-2003) (updated 22.Dec. 2005)

See Screenshot for level on which to find indicato[2]

The same step does furthermore provide the opportunity to retrieve data on:

• Fugitive Emissions from Fuels
• Emissions from Road Transport
• Emissions from Other Transport
• Total National Emissions
• Air emissions from Energy Industries
• Air emissions from Manufacturing Industries and Construction
• Air emissions from Industrial Processes
• Air emissions from Agriculture

Additional Links:

• European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change (covers 38 air quality parameters in 30 European Countries for 1990-2002)

European Environment Agency Indicators:

EEA Air Quality Indicators

• EEA18 Emissions of primary particulates (PM10) and secondary particulate precursors (Data covering EU 15 for 1990-2002)
• EEA18 Emissions of primary particulates (PM10) and secondary particulate precursors (Data covering EU 15 1990 - 2002)
• Emission trends of NH3 and 2010 NECD target for EEA 31 (Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Emissions of NMVOC (ktonnes) for EEA 31 (Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Emission trends of SO2 for EEA 31(Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Emission trends of NOx for EEA 31 (Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Ecosystem damage areas by air pollution, EU 18 (Data covering 1985-1997)
• Emissions of ozone precursors between 1990 and 2001 (ktonnes NMVOC equiv.) for EEA 31 (Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Emission trends of acidifying pollutants (ktonnes acid equivalent) for EEA 31 (Data covering EEA 31 for 1990-2001)
• Exceedance of the EU human health threshold value for ozone in EEA 18 urban areas (Data covering 1990-2000)
• Exposure to fine particles above EC threshold values (Data covering 1989-1998)
• Data on emissions of acidifying pollutants reported to the Convention on the Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution disaggregated by sectors (Data covering numerous European countries for 1990-2002)

See also

IA TOOLS

References

This text is for information only and is not designed to interpret or replace any reference documents.