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Indicator Assessment
There are only a few areas in Europe [1] where ambient air concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and nickel (Ni) are above the limit or target values. Exceedances of the limit or target values and human exposure at these locations is very much a local problem, typically caused by specific industrial plants. However, the atmospheric deposition of toxic metals contributes to the exposure of ecosystems and organisms to toxic metals. Bioaccumulation can subsequently occur in the food chain, thus affecting human health.
Within the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, emissions of heavy metals are controlled by the Amended Protocol on Heavy Metals [2], which requires parties to reduce emissions of selected metals to below 1990 levels. Releases of Hg are also controlled by the United Nations Environment Programme Minimata Convention [3].
In the EEA-33 region, emissions of Cd and Hg make up approximately a third and a quarter of the corresponding total emissions in 1990, respectively. Emissions of Pb have declined to approximately one tenth of the total emissions in 1990.
A combination of targeted legislation (for details see Policy context in the Indicator specification), improved controls and abatement techniques have, in general, led to significant progress being made in most countries to reduce heavy metal emissions.
Cadmium (Cd)
EEA-33 emissions of Cd have declined by approximately one third since 1990. This is largely due to improvements in abatement technologies for wastewater treatment and incinerators, and in metal refining and smelting facilities. EC Directives and Regulations that mandate reductions, and limits on heavy metal emissions (e.g. the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) [4] and associated permitting conditions) have also contributed to reducing Cd emissions.
Around one half of EEA-33 countries (that reported the relevant data) have achieved emission reductions for Cd in excess of 66 % since 1990.
In recent years, by far the largest emitter of Cd is Poland – accounting for 20 % of total EEA-33 emissions.
Mercury (Hg)
EEA-33 emissions of Hg have declined by approximately one quarter since 1990. This is attributed chiefly to changes in the industrial sector, such as improvements in emission controls on Hg cells and their replacement by diaphragm or membrane cells, and fuel switching from coal to gas and other energy sources in the power and heat generating sectors in many countries. In addition, emissions have been reduced by the effect of various EU Directives and Regulations that mandate reductions in heavy metal emissions.
All of the EEA-33 (with the exception of Lichtenstein and Cyprus) have reported a decrease in emissions of Hg from 1990 levels. A third of the countries show emissions reductions of more than 80 %.
Since 1990, the largest reduction in Hg emissions has been achieved by the 'Energy production and distribution' sector i.e. public power and heat generation. Emissions of Hg from this sector are closely linked to the use of coal, which contains Hg as a contaminant. Changes in fuel use within this sector since 1990 are mainly responsible for past decreases in emissions from this sector, particularly fuel switching from coal to gas and other energy sources in many countries, the closure of older, inefficient coal-burning plants and improved pollution abatement equipment etc.
Lead (Pb)
EEA-33 emissions of Pb have declined to less than one tenth of total emissions in 1990. This is primarily due to reductions in emissions from the road transport sector made by countries. The promotion of unleaded petrol within the EU, through a combination of fiscal and regulatory measures, has been a particular success story. EU Member States and other EEA member countries have now phased out the use of leaded petrol, a goal that was regulated in the EU by the Directive on the Quality of Petrol and Diesel Fuels (98/70/EC).
The largest emitter of Pb is currently Poland (20% of total EEA-33 emissions). The only country to report current Pb emission levels that are higher than those in 1990 is Malta. This is primarily caused by changes in the energy production and distribution sector, which give rise to very large increases when expressed on a relative basis.
The largest current emission sources for the heavy metals cadmium, mercury and lead are energy-related sources associated with fuel combustion. The major contributors are public power and heat-generating facilities, and fuel combustion for energy use in industrial facilities. The emissions from the ‘Commercial, Institutional and Households’ sector are also a large source of Cd, accounting for 20 % of current EEA-33 emissions.
Lead from Road Transport: As noted earlier, the promotion of unleaded petrol within the EU and in other EEA member countries, through a combination of fiscal and regulatory measures, has been a key success story within Europe. Large reductions in Pb emissions from the road transport sector (over 98 %) has been responsible for the vast majority of the overall reduction in Pb emissions since 1990. Nevertheless, the road transport sector still remains an important source of Pb, contributing approximately 15 % of total Pb emissions in the EEA-33. Residual Pb in fuel, from engine lubricants and parts, and from tyre and brake wear, contribute to continued Pb emissions from this sector.
Industrial Processes: Emissions of Pb and Cd from some industrial processes, such as metal refining and smelting activities, have also both decreased. This reflects improved pollution abatement control and, in some countries, is a result of economic restructuring and the closure of older and more polluting industrial facilities.
Mercury from Energy Production: Since 1990, the largest reduction (in absolute terms) in Hg emissions has been achieved by the 'Energy production and distribution' sector, i.e. public power and heat generation. Emissions of Hg from this sector are closely linked to the use of coal, which contains Hg as a contaminant. Changes in fuel use within the 'Energy production and distribution' sector since 1990 are mainly responsible for past decreases in emissions from this sector, particularly fuel switching from coal to gas and other energy sources in many countries, the closure of older, inefficient coal-burning plants, and improved pollution abatement equipment etc.
The unit used in this indicator is the tonne (metric ton) and percentages (%)
Coupled with improved control and abatement techniques, targeted international and EU legislation has led to good progress being made in most EEA-33 countries towards reducing heavy metal emissions. Such legislation includes:
There are also a number of specific EU environmental quality and emission standards for heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in coastal and inland waters, drinking waters, etc. These have only indirect relevance to air emissions as they do not directly specify emission or precipitation quality requirements, but rather specify the required quality of receiving waters. Such measures include the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Other measures include restrictions on the use of heavy metals in certain consumer products, such as the EC Regulation on the banning of exports of metallic mercury and certain mercury compounds and mixtures, and the safe storage of metallic mercury (No 1102/2008), as well as Directive 2007/51/EC amending Council Directive 7/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing of certain measuring devices containing mercury.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury — a global, legally binding treaty — was agreed by governments in January 2013 and formally adopted as international law on 10 October 2013.
The Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals to the UNECE LRTAP Convention obliges parties to reduce their emissions of Cd, Hg and Pb from 1990 levels (or an alternative year from 1985 to 1995 inclusive).
This indicator is based on the national total and sectoral emissions data that were officially reported to the EEA and the UNECE/Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP) LRTAP Convention in 2016. For the EU-28, the data used are consistent with the emissions data reported by the EU in its annual submission to the LRTAP Convention.
Recommended methodologies for emission inventory estimation are included in the EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook (EMEP/EEA, 2016). Base data are available from the EEA Data Service and the EMEP website. Where necessary, gaps in reported data are filled by the European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change (ETC/ACC) using simple interpolation techniques (see below). The final gap-filled data used in this indicator are available from the EEA Data Service. Base data, reported in the UNECE/EMEP nomenclature for reporting (NFR) sector format, are aggregated into the following EEA sector codes to obtain a consistent reporting format across all countries and pollutants:
The following table shows the conversion of the NFR sector codes used for reporting by countries into EEA sector codes:
EEA classification |
Non-greenhouse gases (NFR) |
|
National totals |
National total |
|
Energy production and distribution |
1A1, 1A3e, 1B |
|
Energy use in industry |
1A2 |
|
Road transport |
1A3b |
|
Non-road transport (non-road mobile machinery) |
1A3 (excl. 1A3b) |
|
Industrial processes and product use |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Agriculture |
3 |
|
Waste |
6 |
|
Commercial, institutional and households |
1A4ai, 1A4aii, 1A4bi, 1A4bii, 1A4ci, 1A4cii, 1A5a, 1A5b |
|
Other |
7 |
An improved gap-filling methodology was implemented in 2010 that enables a complete time-series trend for the main air pollutants (e.g. nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), ammonia (NH3) and carbon monoxide (CO)) to be compiled. Where countries did not report emissions for any year, it meant that gap-filling could not be applied. For these pollutants, therefore, the aggregated data are not yet complete and are likely to underestimate true emissions. Further methodological details of the gap-filling procedure are provided in Section 1.4.5, 'Data gaps and gap-filling', of the European Union emission inventory report 1990-2017 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
The use of gap filling for countries that have not reported emissions for one or more years can potentially lead to artificial trends, but is considered unavoidable if a comprehensive and comparable set of emissions data for European countries is required for policy analysis purposes.
The Pb inventory is more uncertain than the SO2 and NOx inventories, and the certainty of the emissions data varies over the time series. This is because different source sectors have dominated at different times as a result of the very significant reductions in emissions from key sources in 1990, notably from the road transport sector. The Pb emission estimates from key sources in 1990 were based on measured concentrations of Pb in fuels, which were tightly regulated prior to being phased out in the late 1990s. This gives a high degree of confidence in the estimates for the fuel combustion sources that dominated emissions in the early 1990s, but are now much reduced. In more recent years, the level of emissions is estimated to be very much lower and emissions are derived from a smaller number of sources. The metal processing industries are mainly regulated under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive and the estimates provided by plant operators are based on emission measurements or emission factors that have been researched for the specific process type, and are, therefore, likely to be quite accurate. Emissions from other smaller scale combustion and process sources from industrial and commercial activities are less well documented and the estimates are based on emission factors that are less certain.
This indicator is regularly updated by the EEA and is used in state-of-the-environment assessments. The uncertainties related to the methodology and the data sets are therefore of importance. Any uncertainties in the calculations and data sets need to be accurately communicated in the assessment, in order to prevent erroneous information from influencing policy actions or processes.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/eea32-heavy-metal-hm-emissions-1/assessment-6 or scan the QR code.
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