All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodiesDo something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it!
Indicator 3: Exceedance of air quality standards
Although air quality has improved in recent decades (and particularly in the large urban areas), nearly all urban citizens still experience exceedances of EU urban air quality standards. Figure 1.9: Urban population potentially exposed to exceedances of
(proposed) EU urban air quality standards (EU, 1995) Note: Figure indicates . potential exposure. as estimates are based on the assumption of exposure for a person permanently in ambient air (i.e. not taking into account the indoor exposure). Note: PM10 is the fraction of suspended particulate matter
sampled with sizxe-selecting device with a 50% efficiency at an aerodynamic
particle diameter of 10 micrometer.
Objective
Definition
Note: Measured values were found to have insufficient spatial coverage to estimate potential exposure to air pollution of the urban population in the EU. Exceedances of limit values were therefore calculated using a model developed in the Auto-Oil II programme (EEA, 2000). By combining calculated values and population data, an estimate was made of potential exposure, i.e. the exposure of people if they are in ambient air 24 hours a day. |
Policy and targets
The transport sector is a major source of air pollution, and the dominant source in urban areas, having overtaken the combustion of high-sulphur coal, oil and industrial combustion processes. Exposure to air pollution can cause adverse health effects, most acute in children, asthmatics, and the elderly (WHO/EEA, 1997), and can damage vegetation (foliar injuries and reductions in yield and seed production) and materials (notably, the cultural heritage).
Within the transport sector, road traffic is the most important contributor to urban air pollution. While national and EU regulations aimed at automobile emission reductions (such as the introduction of catalytic converters or unleaded petrol) have resulted in considerably lower emissions per vehicle, the continuous expansion of the vehicle fleet is partly offsetting these improvements (see Indicator 2).
Community policies to curb air pollution from road traffic have been framed around the Auto-Oil Programme I (which is now completed) and the Auto-Oil Programme II, with its proposed follow-up programme . Clean Air for Europe. . At the international level, various protocols under the Geneva Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) set emission reduction targets for specific pollutants in the form of National Emission Ceilings based on a cost-effectiveness analysis. The Commission has proposed slightly stricter National Emission Ceilings based on its acidification and ozone abatement strategy. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is also relevant since measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from fuel consumption will at the same time reduce emissions of other compounds.
Several air quality limit values for ambient concentrations have been set to protect human health. Current EU legislation (the EC Framework Directive on Ambient Air Quality and management (CEC, 1996a) and related daughter Directives) is based on WHO-recommended threshold values.
Table 1.2: Environmental objectives under the Auto-Oil Programme II |
|||
Pollutant |
Averaging period |
Air quality standards and objectives |
Legal status |
NO2 |
1 hour |
200 µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 8 (18) times a calendar year |
1 |
NO2 |
calendar year |
40 µg/m3 |
1 |
PM10 |
24 hours |
50 µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 7 (35) times a calendar year |
1 |
PM10 |
calendar year |
20 µg/m3 (40µg/m3 ) |
1 |
CO |
8 hours |
10 mg/m3 |
2 |
Ozone |
daily 8-h max |
120 µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 20 days per calendar year |
3 |
Benzene |
calendar year |
5 µg/m3 |
2 |
Lead |
calendar year |
0.5 µg/m3 |
1 |
Note:
|
Findings
Although air quality in Europe (and particularly in the large urban areas) has improved in recent decades, nearly all urban citizens still experience exceedances of the limit values listed in Table 1.2 (Figure 1.9). About 90 % of the urban population experience exceedances of both the 24 h and annual average EU objectives for particulate matter. Exposure to exceedances of NO2, benzene and ozone are also frequent.
Figure 1.10: Annual average NOx and maximum
8-hour O3 concentrations for a number of large European cities
Source: EEA-ETC/AQ (2000)
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
The EU air quality limit values were exceeded in
1995 in most European cities, however peak concentrations are decreasing. In
most larger cities the average city background concentrations, representative
for the urban area at large, exceeded EC proposed limit values (Figure 1.10).
From the limited data, the highest concentrations appear to occur in some southern
European cities (Map 1.1).
Source: RIVM-ETC/AQ
Benzene
In 1995 about half the urban population of the EU was exposed to benzene
levels in excess of the proposed EU limit value. The largest exceedances are
found at street level and in car parks. Validation of the benzene calculations
with measurements is hampered, partly by the scarcity of data (none of the EEA
member countries has submitted benzene data to the European database AIRBASE
) and partly because measurements are frequently made at stations near traffic
routes whereas the calculations are intended to be representative of the overall
urban environment. Nevertheless, there is reasonable agreement with measurements.
Exceedances most often occur in the more southern countries (Map 1.2). The highest
contribution of traffic to total benzene emissions is also found in these countries.
Source: RIVM-ETC/AQ
Carbon monoxide (CO)
Urban air concentrations have clearly fallen during the past decade. Exceedances
of the objective (8-hour average of 10 mg/m3) have been calculated
for 11 cities (14 % of the total urban EU population in all the cities
that were included in the modelling). Most exceedance were found in the southern
Europe cities (Map 1.3).
Source: RIVM-ETC/AQ
Particulate matter (PM10)
The EU limit values (both for the annual and for
the daily PM10 concentrations) are frequently exceeded by a large
margin (Map 1.4). Data is currently insufficient to draw firm conclusions about
emission trends. However, concentrations of total suspended particulates (TSP)
and black smoke are generally decreasing. PM10 concentrations are
expected to remain well above limit values in most urban areas of EEA member
countries in the coming decade. This suggests that more measures need to be
taken to reduce human health risks significantly (CEC,1999c).
Source: RIVM-ETC/AQ
Ozone
Episodes of ozone exceedance occur over most parts of
Europe every summer. The reduction in emissions of ozone precursors (NOx,
NMVOC) achieved in the EU has not yet been sufficient to make a significant
difference to health risk. Threshold values set for the protection of human
health and vegetation are frequently exceeded by a large margin (Figure 1.10).
Insufficient data and strong year-on-year fluctuations owing to episodes of
high ozone concentrations preclude clear conclusions on time trends. However,
the limited monitoring data suggests that peak concentrations are decreasing.
Despite projected further emission reductions, ozone concentrations are expected to exceed EC threshold values over all EEA member countries in the next decade (EMEP, 1999). By 2010, north-western European areas are expected to comply with the proposed EU target value of only 20 exceedance days per year in the long-term air quality objective (CEC, 1999a).
Lead
Urban lead concentrations have decreased in the past
decade. In 1990, 23 % of the EU urban population could have been exposed
to ambient levels in excess of the limit value of 0.5 m g/m3 annual
average, as estimated from the cities covered by the calculations (Map 1.5).
Source: RIVM-ETC/AQ
Future work
While the transport sector is an important source of many of the pollutants discussed above, the same pollutants also come from many other sectors. No data is currently available on the relative sectoral contributions to air pollutant concentrations. However, the EEA. s Generalised Empirical Approach, which is being developed and applied in the context of the . Clean Air For Europe. programme, has provided a methodology for estimating the transport contribution to urban air pollution.
Figure 1.11 shows some preliminary results using this methodology, assuming zero pollution from road transport in a given city. Under this assumption, exceedances of threshold values for typical transport-related pollutants like NO2, CO and benzene would decrease dramatically, but there would be less impact on PM10 levels, most of which result from particles transported over long distances.
Figure 1.11: Urban population potentially exposed to
exceedances of (proposed) EU urban air quality standards under a 'zero traffic'
scenario (EU) Preliminary results (reference year 1995)
Source: EEA, ETC/AQ (2000)
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/ENVISSUENo12/page008.html or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 15 Sep 2024, 10:53 PM
Engineered by: EEA Web Team
Software updated on 26 September 2023 08:13 from version 23.8.18
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 23.9.14
Document Actions
Share with others