In order to protect our health, vegetation and ecosystems, EU directives set down air quality standards in Ireland and the other member states for a wide variety of pollutants. These rules include how we should monitor, assess and manage ambient air quality.
The European Commission set down the principles to this approach in 1996 with its Air Quality Framework Directive. This became Irish law through the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (Ambient Air Quality Assessment and Management) Regulations 1999 (SI 33 of 1999).
Four "daughter" directives lay down limits for specific pollutants. The first two of these directives cover:
These two directives became Irish law as the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2002.
Two more daughter directives deal with:
The Clean Air For Europe (CAFÉ) Directive was published in May 2008. When it enters into force it will replace the Framework Directive and the first, second and third Daughter Directives. The fourth Daughter Directive will be included in CAFÉ at a later stage.
The following tables show the limit or target values specified by the five published directives that set down limits for specific air pollutants. The directives cover:
Check the bottom of this article for explanations of the abbreviations used.
Limit values of Directive 2008/50/EC (and 1999/30/EC)
PM2.5 -
Stage 1
Stage 2
The public must be informed if the following thresholds are exceeded for three consecutive hours.
The ozone daughter directive is different from the previous two in that it sets target values and long term objectives for ozone levels rather than limit values. They are as follows:
The public must be informed if ozone levels exceed the following thresholds
Target Value ng/m3
Nitrogen dioxide 1 ppb = 1.91 ug/m3 Sulphur dioxide 1 ppb = 2.66 ug/m3 Ozone 1 ppb = 2.0 ug/m3 Carbon monoxide 1 ppb = 1.16 ug/m3 Benzene 1 ppb = 3.24 ug/m3
The following is a worked example:
