| Abstract Title: | Novel determination of sources of pollution and trends in UK ambient air quality |
| Presenter Name: | Dr Emma Braysher |
| Co-authors/Co-presenters: | Dr Andrew Brown Dr Richard Brown Mr David Butterfield Dr Krzysztof Ciupek Mr Jordan Tompkins |
| Company/Organisation: | NPL |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
Abstract Information :
Due to a series of policy interventions, air quality has improved significantly in the UK since the middle of the twentieth century. However, as the present annual mortality burden from air pollution indicates, the challenge of improving UK air quality continues and is a current and pressing public health matter. The EU Air Quality Directive and Fourth Daughter Directive specify target or limit values for the annual average concentrations of four metals of particular concern (nickel, cadmium, arsenic and lead) in PM10 in ambient air to protect the health of the public. Particle number concentration, particle size distribution and black carbon are not yet regulated, but new regulation will be set out in the upcoming EU Air Quality Directive. In the UK, compliance against these target and limit values is assessed by a number of air quality networks including the UK Heavy Metals network, which measures the concentrations of 12 metals at 24 sites around the UK. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) operate this, and the Particle Numbers and Concentrations Network and Black Carbon Network, for the Environment Agency on behalf of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Through a series of case studies, we present and discuss how data and samples from the UK air quality monitoring networks have been used to deliver research activities that contribute to the wider understanding of air pollution in the UK. These include: • use of isotope ratio analysis to pinpoint the sources of lead in ambient air. • seasonality of heavy metals concentrations. • deweathering of particle number concentration to assess the impacts of policy interventions. • trends in long-term urban and roadside black carbon increments. • recovering environmental DNA (eDNA) from network samples to assess biodiversity in the vicinity of the monitoring stations. To conclude, we’ll look forward to how the routine monitoring networks for ambient air quality might evolve in the future and describe some additional potential applications of samples and data taken for the networks delivered by NPL.
