Air pollutants of emerging concern
Potential air pollutants and how they could be monitored under future air quality directives
The report presents information about four pollutants that are not currently regulated by the European Air Quality legislation and an atmospheric marker for biomass burning. They were selected for the prominent role they could play in the revision of the current Ambient Air Quality Directives. For each compound, their physico-chemical properties and major sources are described. Current knowledge about the impacts of these pollutants on health and the environment is then summarised, together with a description of existing measurement methodologies, and of current availability of supranational monitoring data and their main current uses. Finally, possible further exploitation of data and the advantages of more systematic monitoring for the zero pollution targets are discussed together with an indication of the resources needed for suitable monitoring devices and networks. We conclude that systematic monitoring of (equivalent) black carbon and ammonia would be beneficial for both human health and ecosystems because both species play prominent roles in air pollution and can currently be monitored using robust and cost-effective measurement techniques.
MONFORTI-FERRARIO Fabio;
BOROWIAK Annette;
PUTAUD Jean-Philippe;
PEREZ BALLESTA Pascual;
CAVALLI Fabrizia;
MANCA Giovanni;
2022-03-25
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC128188
978-92-76-49331-0 (online),
978-92-76-49330-3 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
1831-5593 (print),
EUR 31014 EN,
OP KJ-NA-31014-EN-N (online),
OP KJ-NA-31014-EN-C (print),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128188,
10.2760/284694 (online),
10.2760/607292 (print),
Additional supporting files
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