The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its annual air quality report to mark the event of World Lung Day - a report that shows during 2018, Ireland's air quality complied with the legally binding EU standards, but did not meet the World Health Organisation's (WHO) guideline values for health.
On 25 September 2019, the EPA launched their annual air quality report. Air quality impacts people's health and there are an estimated 1,180 premature deaths in Ireland per year, due to air pollution. Levels of particulate fine matter - known as fine particles - in our air is a growing concern; levels of this pollutant are particularly high during the winter months, as a result of people's use of solid fuels, such as coal, peat and wood, which impact negatively on air quality. This is especially seen in small towns and villages.
The EPA's report makes note that any movement along the spectrum of home heating choices and solid fuel choices towards cleaner modes, will have a subsequent improvement on the quality of air found and as such are viable solutions to the problem.
While in urban areas, transport related emissions of nitrogen dioxide are increasing, it still looks probable that Ireland will exceed the EU annual legal limit value for nitrogen dioxide in the near future.
During the launch of the report, Air Quality in Ireland 2018, the Director of the EPA's Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, Dr Micheál Lehane, said, "We all expect that the air we breathe is clean, but we cannot take this for granted. Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health, so it is now time to tackle the two key issues that impact negatively on air quality in Ireland - transport emissions in large urban areas and emissions from burning of solid fuels. The choices we make affect the levels of pollution in the air we breathe. We need to decarbonise our public transport system and in general reduce our reliance on internal combustion vehicles. Moving to cleaner ways of heating our homes will also significantly improve air quality in our towns and cities."
It has been pointed out that the EPA's air quality monitoring has shown that, while Ireland's air quality compiled with the EU legal standards in 2018, the levels of fine particles in the air we breathe did not meet the WHO's guideline values. The EPA is continuing to install more monitoring stations across the country under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme - it has now more than doubled the number of real-time monitoring stations providing air quality data across Ireland since 2017.
The EU has introduced and implemented a range of legal instruments to improve air quality, these standards are still not in line with the tighter guidelines provided by the WHO. The Agency has previously called for movement towards the adoption of these stricter guidelines, as a legal and enforceable standard across Europe and in Ireland.
Are you wondering why we're discussing matters in the Republic of Ireland? Watch this space...
