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Ireland’s Environment 2012
34
Introduction
Air pollution is a major environmental
health risk; poor air quality reduces
human life expectancy by more
than eight months on average
and by more than two years in the
most polluted cities and regions
(EC, 2010). The World Health
Organisation (WHO) states that
outdoor air pollution is estimated to
cause 1.3 million deaths worldwide
per year (WHO, 2005). Poor air
quality also has an adverse impact on
the environment by contributing to
acidification, eutrophication and crop
damage. This chapter is concerned
with outdoor air quality; information
on indoor air quality is contained in
Chapter 9,
Environment and Health
.
Since the 1970s the EU has
introduced a number of legislative
requirements with regard to
air quality, which have become
progressively more stringent. This
led to a significant improvement in
air quality since 1990; however, the
improvement has stagnated in recent
years and we currently face new
challenges.
In order to protect our health,
vegetation and ecosystems, EU
Directives set down air quality
standards for a wide variety of
pollutants. The current standards are
contained in the Clean Air for Europe
(CAFE) Directive (EP & CEU, 2008)
and the 4th Daughter Directive (EP
& CEU, 2004). These Directives also
include rules on how Member States
should monitor, assess and manage
ambient air quality.
The Directives require that Member
States divide their territory into
zones for the assessment and
management of air quality. The
zones adopted in Ireland are Zone
A, the Dublin conurbation; Zone
B, the Cork conurbation; Zone
C, comprising 21 large towns in
Ireland with a population >15,000;
and Zone D, the remaining area of
Ireland. A nationwide network of
29 monitoring stations, managed
by the EPA, measures levels of air
pollutants in each zone and delivers
this information in real-time to the
public.
Air pollution has a transboundary
aspect, meaning that emissions in
one country can cause pollution
in a different country. These
pollutants contribute to acidification,
eutrophication and ozone formation.
Emissions of transboundary
pollutants are controlled by the
1999 UNECE Gothenburg Protocol
under the Convention on Long-
Range Transboundary Air Pollution
(CLRTAP) and by the EU National
Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive (EP
and CEU, 2001a). The NEC directive
prescribes national emissions ceilings
for each EU country for four key
Figure 3.1
Annual Mean Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations 2002–2010 (Source: EPA)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
µg/m
3
Zone A Traffic
(Dublin)
Zone A Background
(Dublin)
Zone B Traffic
(Cork)
Zone C
(21 biggest towns)
Zone D
(remainder of country)
Annual Limit Value
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010