Defra

Air quality

There are many sources of air pollution, including power stations, traffic, household heating, agriculture and industrial processes.

Some air pollutants directly affect us or our environment because they are harmful chemicals and others because they can react in the environment to produce harmful chemicals. Other pollutants or pollutant combinations upset the natural balance of acidity and nitrogen in the environment.

The effects of air pollution include:

  •  acidification – where chemical reactions involving air pollutants create acidic compounds which can cause harm to vegetation and buildings (including as acid-rain);
  • eutrophication - where the nitrogen can be deposited in soils or in rivers and lakes through rain and affects the nutrient levels and diversity of species in sensitive environments, for example encouraging algae growth in lakes and water courses.
  • ground-level ozone – where  chemical reactions involving air pollutants create the toxic gas ozone (O3) which can affect people’s health and can damage wild plants, crops, forests and some materials.
  • particulate matter – air pollutants can be in the form of particulate matter which can adversely impact human health, with chronic exposure to particulates contributing to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Air pollution can be quantified in two ways – the level of air pollutant emissions and air pollutant concentrations and the resulting air quality.

National Statistics

Additional datasets – Emissions

 Concentrations

Further resources

Further Resources on Air Quality statistics : Data.Gov

Government policy on air quality
Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Further data and information on UK air quality and emissions of air pollutants
Air quality in Europe
Critical loads modelling and mapping
Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
Stockholm Convention treaty on persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
Air quality in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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Page last modified: February 14, 2012