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Air Quality Expert Group

About the Group

The Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) is an advisory group that provides independent scientific advice on air quality, in particular the air pollutants contained in the Air Quality Strategy (AQS) for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and those covered by the EU Directive on ambient air quality assessment and management (the Air Quality Framework Directive).

AQEG replaces the Airborne Particles Expert Group. The Group considers current knowledge on air pollution and provides advice on such things as the levels, sources and characteristics of air pollutants in the UK.

AQEG reports to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales and the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (the Government and Devolved Administrations).

AQEG is an advisory non-departmental public body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In terms of the Scotland Act 1998, the Group is a jointly established body.

Members of the Group are drawn from those with a proven track record in the fields of air pollution research and practice.

Terms of reference

AQEG's main functions are:

  • to give advice on levels, sources and characteristics of air pollutants in the UK;
  • assessing the extent of exceedences of AQS objectives and proposed objectives, EU limit values and proposed or possible objectives and limit values, where monitoring data is not available;
  • analysis of trends in pollutant concentrations;
  • assessing current and future ambient concentrations of air pollutants in the UK; and
  • to suggest potential priority areas for future research aimed at providing a better understanding of the issues that need to be addressed in setting air quality objectives.
  • AQEG will not give approval for products or equipment.
Work programme

The Group is now beginning a new programme of work which will begin with particulate matter. It will:

i. update the 1999 report on 'Source apportionment of airborne particulate matter in the UK' produced by the Airborne Particles Expert Group;
ii. assess the attainability of the Air Quality Strategy objectives and EU limit values for particulate matter; and
iii. consider the draft position paper from the Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Particulate Matter Working Group when it is available.

Current work includes the discussion of:

  • interactions between climate change and air quality; and
  • ground-level ozone in urban areas.
Publication scheme

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the publication scheme below has been designed to summarise the material published by AQEG and how it may be obtained.

Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.

Page last modified: 3 November 2006
Page published: 2 August 2001

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs