Air Monitoring 3
2013 Designated the Year of Air Quality
As many countries fail to meet air quality targets and large numbers of premature deaths still result from air pollution, Jim Mills, a particulate monitoring specialist and Managing Director of Air Monitors, explains why 2013 should be a pivotal year.
Local Authorities monitor ambient air quality and publish data for the benefit of the public. However, as a result of public sector cutbacks environmental health professionals are focused on maintaining performance whilst implementing cost savings.
In November 2011 Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, expressed his determination to make 2013 the ‘Year of Air’.
He acknowledged that there has been substantial improvement in air quality in recent decades but in the light of the environmental/climate issues surrounding air quality and the large number of premature deaths resulting from air pollution, he says: “The challenge for all of us is to address the shortcomings of existing regulations in a decisive and co-ordinated way. This will require the goodwill of policy-makers at all levels – European, national, regional and local – as well as other stakeholders such as the automotive and oil industries.”
The European Environment Agency’s 2011 report on air quality reflects air quality improvements for a number of key parameters, with concentrations of sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide falling by about half in the decade ending in 2009. However, the report also shows that in 2008, levels of nitrogen oxide, ozone and particulate matter have risen, fuelling concerns about overall air quality, especially in urban areas.
According to the Commission, some 500,000 people die prematurely in the EU 27, mainly due to exposure to high levels of fine particulate matter (atmospheric microparticles or ‘dust’ of a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres), which originates from residential heating, transport (diesel cars and trucks, ships and planes), agriculture, industrial processes and power production.
Particulates
Particulate pollution continues to be a major problem, despite the considerable progress that has been made in the reduction of larger particulates such as PM10. This is due, in no small part, to the standard monitoring methodologies that have been adopted because particulates are generally monitored as the PM10 or PM2.5 fraction, whereas it is widely acknowledged that the finer particles (< 1 micron), are able to penetrate deeper into the lungs and are responsible for the most severe health effects.
Black Carbon Author Details:
Jim Mills, Managing Director Air Monitors Ltd
Unit 2 Bredon Court, Brockeridge Park, Twyning,
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, GL20 6FF, United Kingdom.
Web:
www.airmonitors.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1684 857530
Email:
enquire@airmonitors.co.uk
A further problem associated with tiny particles is their ability to act as “sponges” carrying small amounts of toxic species such as PAH’s and Dioxins which are adsorbed onto Black Carbon particles and transported deep into the body. PM10 and PM2.5 monitoring measurements provide a total figure for everything with mass in the sample and thereby assume that all particles are of equal significance. In reality this is not the case because some of the particles are benign from a human health perspective or are not anthropogenic so are of less interest from an air quality management perspective.
It is fortunate that the fine particles (from the combustion of fossil fuels) that are of most interest are Black Carbon and can be measured with an Aethalometer, which employs an optical method to only measure those fine particles which are black. Importantly, an Aethalometer can provide a real-time readout of the mass concentration of 'Black' or 'Elemental'
Black Carbon can be monitored with an Aethalometer
carbon aerosol particles in the air which means that live data can be used to manage the main contributor of urban Black Carbon: road traffic. However, while the importance of Black Carbon is becoming widely acknowledged, air quality monitoring standards need to be adapted so that Black Carbon monitoring is included in all national ambient monitoring stations.
A further consideration with Black Carbon is its role in climate change because, after carbon dioxide, it is believed to be the second largest contributor to current global warming. Black Carbon increases global warming by absorbing sunlight, darkening snow and influencing the formation of clouds; its effects are most noticeable at the poles, on glaciers and in mountainous regions – all of which are exhibiting the greatest effects of climate change.
Black Carbon stays in the atmosphere for a relatively short period of time – from days to weeks, before falling to ground as a result of dry deposition or precipitation. This is an important consideration in global
strategy to combat climate change because CO2 stays in the atmosphere for many decades, so emissions reductions will take a long time to have an effect, whereas efforts to reduce Black Carbon could have a much faster beneficial impact on global warming.
In June 2011, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study estimated that ‘near-term’ global warming could be quickly reduced by 0.5 degrees Celsius with a reduction in Black Carbon emissions and that this would have an even greater benefit in the Arctic where it could reduce warming by 0.7 degrees.
www.envirotech-online.com IET November / December 2012
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