Europe still troubled by ozone pollution, data shows

Europe still troubled by ozone pollution, data shows

Although ground-level ozone concentrations exceeded health targets across Europe last year, very high levels were detected by the lowest number of monitoring stations on record, according to the European Environment Agency.
The long-term objective of 120 μg/m3, averaged over eight hours, was exceeded in all member states bar Estonia during April-September 2012.
But only 25 of 2,107 sites, 97% of which are in the EU, exceeded the ‘alert threshold’ of a one-hour average of 240 micrograms per cubic metre.
The overall picture is fairly similar to recent years, said co-author Peder Gabrielsen but the general trend appears to be that the length and severity of smog episodes are falling. The agency is unable to say to what degree air pollution policy is responsible, as weather conditions play a major part in ozone formation.
Because the 2012 data has not yet been verified, the EEA was unable to assess performance against the EU’s target value, which is one of the four non-binding targets for ozone. This target value allows member states to exceed the 120 μg/m3 limit for 25 days each year, averaged over three-year periods starting from 2010.
The World Health Organization this week proposed setting a new air quality standard for long-term average ozone concentrations. Chronic exposure has been linked to diabetes and asthma and increased risk of deaths from cardiorespiratory disease.
The ongoing consultation on the European Commission’s air quality policy review suggests replacing the existing targets with binding limit values. Action to curb emissions of methane, an ozone precursor and greenhouse gas, is also on the cards.
Ozone’s impacts on human health and crops will be considered during the review and will influence which measures are proposed for other precursors such as volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, said a commission official.

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