Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 2
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Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 2 Contents 1. Report Highlights 3 Tables 2. Sources of Air Pollution in NI 5 Table 3.1: Air Quality Management Areas in Northern Ireland 8 3. Legislation and Policy: What Can Be Done 6 4. Air Quality Monitoring Results for 2018 9 Figures 5. Air Quality Changes Over Time 17 Figure 1.1: Air Quality Monitoring Stations 3 6. Website Updates and New Air Quality App 19 Figure 2.1: Main Sources of Air Pollution 5 7. Measures, Initiatives and Reports 22 Figure 4.1: Annual Mean PM10 Concentrations and Exceedances of Daily Mean Objective, 2018 12 Figure 4.2: Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations and Exceedances of Hourly Objective, 2018 13 Figure 4.3: Ozone - Days with Maximum 8-Hour Mean >100 µg m-3 for Five Years 2014-2018 14 Figure 4.4: Annual Mean Concentrations of Benzo[a]pyrene for Five Years 2014-2018 15 Figure 5.1: Trends in NO2 At Selected Monitoring Stations 18 Figure 6.1: The Northern Ireland Air Quality Website www.airqualityni.co.uk 19 Figure 6.2: The Pollution Busters Get a New Look! 20 Figure 6.3: Northern Ireland Air Quality App 21 Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 3 1. Report Highlights This is the seventeenth in a The key purpose of this report is to summarise air quality monitoring results for Northern series of annual reports on air Ireland in 2018, in order to inform the public, quality in Northern Ireland. It has government and wider air quality community in been written and produced by Northern Ireland. This report also contains useful information on air quality policy and legislation Ricardo Energy & Environment, as well as on sources of pollution. Figure 1.1 on behalf of the Department of shows the locations of all the automatic air quality monitoring sites in Northern Ireland that Agriculture, Environment and were in operation during part or all of 2018. Rural Affairs (DAERA). Fig. 1.1: Air Quality Monitoring Stations 1 Londonderry Rosemount 13 Belfast Ormeau Road 19 sites operating in 2018. No sites closed down in 2017 or 2018. 2 Londonderry Dale’s 14 Belfast Stockman’s Lane Corner 15 Lisburn Dunmurry 3 Limavady Dungiven Seymour Hill 4 Ballymena Ballykeel 16 Lough Navar 5 Ballymena Antrim Road 17 Armagh Lonsdale Road 6 Strabane Springhill Park 18 Downpatrick Roadside 7 Newtownabbey Antrim 19 Newry Canal Street 7 Road 8 8 North Down Holywood A2 9 9 Belfast Centre 1 10 Belfast Newtownards 12 11 2 Road 3 10 Derry~ 15 13 11 Castlereagh Dundonald 4 Londonderry 14 12 Belfast Westlink Roden Dungiven 5 Street Strabane Ballymena 6 7-15 Greater 16 Belfast 17 18 Armagh Downpatrick 19 Newry Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 4 Derry/Londonderry City Centre This report has been compiled from data supplied quality objectives. A continued effort to reduce by Northern Ireland’s network of automatic air pollution is therefore important, together monitoring stations (Figure 1.1). Some of these with monitoring to assess progress and to are run on behalf of the Department, while others provide sound, science-based input into policy are managed by district councils, via the Local Air development. Quality Management framework, for which the Department provides funding support. This report reviews the pollutants monitored and highlights exceedances of air quality objectives. It also highlights emerging trends in air quality over time. Each edition of the report takes an issue to examine in-depth, and this year’s focus Concentrations of sulphur is on DAERA’s new mobile phone app, developed dioxide, a pollutant to help keep the public informed on air quality in Northern Ireland. associated with coal and oil combustion, have declined Air quality in Northern Ireland has improved substantially in recent decades. In particular, significantly over the past concentrations of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant twenty years. associated with coal and oil combustion, have declined significantly over the past twenty S years. However, some pollutants in some parts O O of Northern Ireland continue to exceed air Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 5 2. Sources of Air Pollution in NI Figure 2.1 illustrates the most (such as coal), particularly from power generation, industry, and household heating. significant air pollutants for our • Particulate matter, PM10 and PM2.5: by-products region, and provides information of burning fuels, in particular solid fuels (e.g. on their sources: domestic wood and coal burning), industrial combustion and road transport. Half of the Nitrogen oxides (NOX, which includes nitrogen • PM produced from road transport is from fuel monoxide NO and nitrogen dioxide NO2): combustion, while the other half is from tyre from combustion of fuels, most importantly and brake wear and road dust. in transport and energy generation. The NOx emitted by road transport, however, • Ground-level ozone, O3: a secondary pollutant, poses more of a problem because it leads to formed by the interaction of other air increased concentrations of NO2 at ground pollutants in the presence of sunlight. level in busy streets where people are present. • Ammonia, NH3: a gas that is emitted from • Sulphur dioxide, SO2: a pollutant produced waste and agricultural activities – in particular, during combustion of fuels containing sulphur manure handling, storage and spreading. Figure 2.1: Main Sources of Air Pollution stion Dome mbu stic Co So el lid Fu F id ue ol l S Co ic m t b s u e s m t o io D n • • n R o i o t a a d r e T r n a e n G in el te s ev ra r -l ct p e d i o n o n r w u t o o o r P f SO2 G PM10 A g A r t i i c r h u P ig n l 3 3 l x o t o O NH NO i u l n lu u t r t S a a ants & r l e A n c e t G i v r it e i e w s o • P M • a t n r u o r sp e n H ra a T nd d lin oa g R Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 6 3. Legislation and Policy: What Can Be Done During 2018, the management The UK left the European Union (EU) on 31st January 2020 and is in a transition period until 31st of air quality in Northern Ireland December 2020. During the transition period the was based on the requirements trading relationship between the EU and UK will of European Union (EU) Air remain the same and current EU rules, including those on air quality, will continue to apply. Quality Directives, and on the 2007 UK Air Quality Strategy. During 2018 (the period covered by this report) the following Directives were still applicable in These requirements are Northern Ireland: incorporated (or ‘transposed’) into • Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality Northern Ireland’s own legislation and Cleaner Air for Europe (the Air Quality by statutory measures, forming Directive), which relates to sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, lead, the basis of a strong framework carbon monoxide, benzene and ozone in for managing air quality. ambient air; and • Directive 2004/107/EC (the Fourth Daughter The European Union Directive) relating to arsenic, cadmium, Whist this report relates to the 2018 year, at the mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic time of writing (early 2020), the UK had left the hydrocarbons (PAH) in ambient air. EU. As such, and to provide information to the public, this section on the current status of EU air quality legislation has been included. A target to improve air quality exists in the Northern Ireland Executive’s Draft Programme for Government Air Pollution in Northern Ireland 2018 Page 7 Newcastle, Co. Down The Air Quality Standards Regulations framework for tackling air pollution. It was (Northern Ireland) 2010 established on the basis of strong scientific evidence and a science-based understanding of These Regulations transposed the provisions of the effects of air pollutants on health and the the above Directives into Northern Ireland’s own environment. The Strategy sets objectives to be legislation. As well as the EU limit values and non- met within the UK for a suite of pollutants. The mandatory target values for ambient concentrations scientific basis, the objectives set, and provisions of pollutants, the Regulations set out requirements contained within the Strategy are closely for ambient air quality monitoring, including the associated with the corresponding standards number of monitoring sites required, siting criteria set within European Air Quality Directives, as and acceptable methodology. They also identify listed above. The Strategy’s provisions for some the duties of Northern Ireland’s Government pollutants differ from those in the Directives, Departments in relation to achieving limit and target with these differences relating to scientific values. It is the responsibility of DAERA to inform the evidence and expert opinion that is specific to public about air quality in the region, particularly the UK situation. However, all the Air Quality with regard to warning the public when information Strategy objectives are at least as stringent as and alert thresholds are exceeded. the corresponding limit values in the Air Quality Directive or 4th Daughter Directive. The full Air The Air Quality Strategy for England, Quality Strategy and its technical annexes are Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland available online and can be downloaded from The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the- Wales and Northern Ireland, first published in 1997 air-quality-strategy-for-england-scotland-wales- and updated in 2007, provides a comprehensive and-northern-ireland-volume-1 .