e-Digest Statistics about: Air Quality
Contents
What's New? - Environment in your pocket 2009, available from 26th November 2009.
This topic provides information on trends in emissions and ambient concentrations of atmospheric pollutants in the United Kingdom.
- 30 September 2009: Emissions to air from Large Combustion Plants (LCP) published
National Statistics |
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| 16/07/2009 - Air quality indicator for sustainable development: 2008 final results (PDF) | This section presents the latest National Statistics publications on air quality and air pollutant emissions. |
| 13/02/2009 - UK emissions of air pollutants: 2007 additional results (PDF) | |
| 29/01/2009 - Air quality indicator for sustainable development: 2008 provisional results (PDF) | |
08/01/2009- UK emissions of air pollutants: 2007 results (PDF) Note: Following some results being reported to the European Commission and submitted to Ministers inadvertently, the release date for the 2007 statistical release was brought forward. The National Statistician and the UK Statistics Authority were informed. The Authority have issued a statement. |
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| Background | |
| Summary of main pollutants | This section provides information about the pollutants covered, and also describes how they are monitored. The methodologies underlying monitoring of air pollutant emissions and estimation of emissions using inventory methodology are described separately. |
| Air pollution UK Sustainable Development indicator | |
| Monitoring air quality | |
| Atmospheric emission inventories | |
| Emissions by pollutant | |
| Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) 1970-2006 | Emissions refer to the quantity of a pollutant released into the atmosphere by primarily human activities. Emissions are estimated using an inventory methodology. The degree of pollution-causing activity (e.g. energy production) during a given year in the UK is combined with other data to retrospectively estimate the amount of pollutants that have been released into the atmosphere during the year. This methodology generally expresses emissions as tonnes emitted per year and does not consider how these emissions go on affect the composition of the air we breathe. |
| Emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2) 1970-2006 | |
| Emissions of particulates (PM10) 1970-2006 | |
| Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) 1970-2006 | |
| Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 1970-2006 | |
| Emissions of ammonia (NH3) 1970-2006 | |
| Emissions of Hydrogen chloride (HCL) and hydrogen fluoride (HCF) | |
| Emissions to air from Large Combustion Plants (LCP) (Excel 33 KB) | |
| Concentrations of the basket of 5 pollutants | |
| Headline Results- Days when air pollution is moderate or higher (Indicator) | Atmospheric concentrations of pollutants refers to the ambient levels of pollutants in the air. Unlike emissions figures which only tell us what is released into the atmosphere, atmospheric concentrations tell us to what degree pollutants are present in the air we breathe. Pollutant concentrations are not measured using an inventory methodology, but directly measured in real time at automated monitoring sites across the UK. Data presented here shows concentrations of the 'basket' of five pollutants - these are the five pollutants that have the most severe effects on health. |
| Headline Results- Particulates and ozone in the air (indicator) | |
| Concentrations of Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and oxides (NOx) | |
| Concentrations of Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | |
| Concentrations of particulates (PM10) | |
| Concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) | |
| Concentrations and emissions of other pollutants | |
| Concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) | This section provides information on emissions and atmospheric concentrations of other pollutants. |
| Concentrations of Metals | |
| Concentrations of B[a]P | |
| Concentrations and emissions of benzene | |
| Concentrations and emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) | |
| Other information | |
| Definitions used | Further information such as definitions, data sets and internet links is given here. |
| List of tables and charts | |
| Internet links | |
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Page last modified: 30 September 2009
Page published: 31 March 2005