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 MD of Air
Monitors, explains why he believes 2013 will be a pivotal year

In November 2011 Janez Potocnik,
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 is to address the shortcomings of
existing regulations in a decisive and coordinated
way. This requires 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 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 2.5µm),
which originates from residential heating,
transport (diesel cars and trucks, ships and
planes), agriculture, industrial processes and
power production.

Particulate pollution remains a problem,
despite the 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. Tiny particles can act as sponges carrying small amounts of toxic species such as PAHs 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 man-made 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 uses an optical method to only measure those fine particles which are black. An Aethalometer can provide a real-time readout of the mass concentration of ‘Black’ or ‘Elemental’ 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 UN Environment Programme study in June 2011 estimated that near-term global warming could be quickly reduced by 0.5°C by 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°C. The importance of short-lived pollutants was recognised by the eight richest industrialised nations which agreed to take emissions reduction measures for short-lived climate pollutants, including Black Carbon, methane, ground-level ozone and hydro fluorocarbons at a recent G8 meeting. In common with most of Europe, air quality improvements of recent decades have stalled and the UK is failing to meet many domestic and European targets. The main parameters of concern are nitrogen oxides (from vehicles and electricity generation), ozone and particulates (from combustion sources). The UK Parliament’s Environment Audit Committee published a report which highlights the UK’s poor performance on air quality. Local Authorities monitor ambient air quality and publish data for the benefit of the public. However, as a result of cutbacks environmental health professionals are focused on maintaining performance while implementing cost savings. Nevertheless, there are opportunities for improvement; air quality needs to be higher on the political agenda and this can only be achieved if more people are aware of the problems. Happily, technology has advanced and it will soon be possible to supplement existing monitoring networks with smaller low-cost ambient monitoring stations. The main advantages of this technology, known as ‘AQMesh’, is that it can be positioned almost anywhere; improving spatial coverage and enhancing models. This will help ensure that readings are more representative of the air that people breathe. The AQMesh ‘pods’ are wireless, using battery power and GPRS communications to transmit data for the main air polluting gases to ‘the cloud’ where sophisticated data management will generate readings and monitor hardware performance AQE 2013 is an air quality and emissions monitoring event that will take place at the International Centre in Telford, on 13th and 14th March. The focus will be on testing and monitoring, but ambient air quality will be addressed in addition to environmental emissions and workplace exposure. The theme of the first day of the conference will be ambient air quality monitoring and the theme of the second day will be industrial emissions to air. There will be 70 free walk in/walk out workshops and an exhibition featuring 70+ of the world’s leading organisations in air quality and emissions monitoring products and services. Marcus Pattison, one of the organisers of AQE 2013, is delighted that Janez Potocnik has designated 2013 as the Year of Air: “It creates a ‘perfect storm’ of activity in air quality; the new Industrial Emissions Directive is now in place, public awareness of air quality issues is growing and the Commissioner’s work will help to ensure progress, so I believe that AQE 2013 will be a timely event, making a powerful contribution to 2013 being the Year of Air.”