National air quality forecast will raise public awareness of pollutants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a national air quality forecast in a bid to increase public awareness of the concentration of pollutants in their local area.

The three-day forecast, which is presented on a map of the country, includes a daily air-quality index for health (AQIH), particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3). PM, NO2 and O3 are the three main air pollutants affecting human health in Ireland.

The forecast maps will be uploaded twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The EPA said there were “concerning localised air-quality issues in Ireland”, with PM2.5, resulting from burning solid fuel, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), from vehicle emissions, being the main pollutants affecting people’s health.

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It is envisaged the new forecast will help people plan their activities in line with the Air Quality Index for Health recommendations, such as reducing physical activity when air pollution levels are predicted to increase.

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Patrick Kenny, head of national ambient air-quality unit at the EPA, said levels of pollutants in the air have decreased over the last 10-20 years.

“But at the same time as levels of pollutants have slowly come down, the medical and scientific understanding of the concentrations at which these pollutants have an impact on your health has greatly improved as well,” he said.

“What that is showing is that at much lower levels than ever considered before, these pollutants are having a very negative impact on our health. Effectively, there are no safe levels for air pollutants and the lower we can get them, the better the health outcomes we can have.”

Mr Kenny said there were urban centres around the country which tended to be affected by poor air quality more frequently. Mr Kenny said while the affected areas were spread across the country, the likes of Letterkenny, Ennis and Enniscorthy were some of the centres facing poor air quality.

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“They have very, very unfortunate geography. Humans moved into these areas for very good reason, due to transport links or they’re in river valleys etc. But by that very geography, when you get those cold, still conditions, because they’re often ringed by hills, you can get that polluted air being trapped in those areas,” he said.

Eilís Ní Chathnia, chief executive of the Asthma Society of Ireland, welcomed the forecast launch.

“The air quality forecast will be an important resource for our members and everyone with respiratory conditions. Ireland has the highest incidence rate of asthma in Europe with one in 10 children and one in 13 adults developing the condition – with 890,000 people likely to develop asthma in their lifetimes,” she added.