e-Digest Statistics about: Air Quality
Headline results: Annual levels of particulates and ozone in the air: 1987-2006
United Kingdom
|
µg per cubic metre (microgram/m-3) |
|||||||
|
1987 |
1993 |
2000 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
|
| Ozone (Rural) |
60 |
68 |
68 |
73 |
70 |
74 |
67 |
| Ozone (Urban background) |
. . |
42 |
53 |
57 |
57 |
61 |
57 |
| PM10 (Roadside) |
. . |
. . |
31 |
27 |
29 |
32 |
29 |
| PM10 (Urban background) |
. . |
36 |
23 |
22 |
22 |
24 |
22 |
This is a UK Government sustainable development strategy indicator
This forms part (a) of the UK Government sustainable development air quality indicator.
One of the two types of air pollution believed to have the most significant impacts on public health is long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10). The effects of long term exposure to ozone are less certain but these two measurements have been chosen to form part (a) of the sustainable development air quality indicator. Long term exposure to even low levels of particulates have been identified as a potential risk to health. Particulate levels tend to be higher near busy roads and in urban areas because of the emissions from road vehicles. Urban background and roadside levels are shown. Annual average urban background particulate (PM10) levels were 22 microgrammes per cubic metre(µg m-3) in 2007 compared to 24 in 2006. There has been an overall decreasing trend since 1993, the first year for which data was available.
At ground level, Ozone (O3) occurs naturally but levels can be increased as a result of the presence of other pollutants. Ozone reacts with NOx to form NO2 and, as urban areas tend to have higher levels of NOx than rural areas, ozone concentrations recorded at urban sites are generally lower than at rural ones. There has however, been a more marked increase in urban areas since the 1990s, due to the reduction in urban emissions of nitrogen oxides, which destroy ozone close to their emission source. Rural ozone levels averaged 67 µg m-3 in 2007 compared to 74 µg m-3 in 2006 and 68 µg m-3 in 1993. There is no clear long term trend. Urban background ozone levels were 57 µg m-3 in 2007 compared to 61 µg m-3 in 2006.
From year to year there can be significant variations caused by the weather, particularly for ozone, more of which is created in hot sunny weather. For example, the hot summers of 2003 and 2006 were a major factor in the high figures for those years.
Further Information:
- Sustainable Development Indicators:
- Air quality and health
- Data Tables:
- Download background data to chart. Microsoft Excel format.
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Page last modified: 29 April 2008
Page published: 3 March 2008