New ozone standard assessment

On 31 August 2014 the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards released the final version of the policy assessment for the review of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

Established in 2008, the current standards for ground-level ozone (O₃) include a primary standard to protect public health of 75 parts per billion (ppb) as an eight-hour average, and a secondary standard to protect public welfare (vegetation and ecosystems), set identically to the primary standard. These 2008 standards are now under review, as required by the Clean Air Act.

The report recommends lowering the primary ozone standard to a level within the range of 60-70 ppb. As a level of 70 ppb would provide little margin of safety, the policy advice is that the level should be set lower. The combined occurrence of respiratory symptoms and lung function decrements has been reported to occur at levels above 65 ppb, and 60 ppb corresponds to the lowest exposure concentration demonstrated to result in lung function decrements and pulmonary inflammation.

With regard to the secondary standard, it is concluded that it is appropriate to consider a revised secondary standard in terms of a cumulative, seasonal, concentration-weighted form, called the W126 index. A range of levels from 17 to 7 ppm-hours as cumulated daily means over a three-month period is recommended. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) noted that a level of 15 ppm-hours is requisite to protect median crop yield loss to no more than 5 per cent and that a level below 10 ppm-hours is required to reduce foliar injury prevalence. It also noted that a level of 7 ppm-hours limits median relative biomass loss for trees to no greater than 2 per cent and offers additional protection against crop yield loss and foliar injury.

The report Policy Assessment for the Review of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

In this issue

Air pollution still harms ecosystems

While acidification has been greatly reduced since its peak in 1980, emissions of nitrogen-containing air pollutants continue to damage more than half of sensitive ecosystems.

Editorial: Protect people and nature from air pollution

Since their peak around thirty years ago, emissions of air pollutants in Europe have come down significantly. Tougher emission standards for industry and road vehicles have resulted in less polluting power plants and cars.

Continued succes for renewables

Denmark got 41 per cent of its power from the wind in the first six months of 2014. Renewables are advancing all over Europe.

Saving Turkey from coal

Turkey should stop the construction of new coal- and lignite-fired power stations and start phasing out the existing ones, says Greenpeace Mediterranean.

A fair share of climate responsibility

Annex 1 countries need to have negative emissions of 441 GtCO₂ by 2050, according to a new equity proposal from several Latin American countries.

Lignite power provides bargain-priced pollution

Combustion of lignite is one of the environmentally worst ways to generate energy. Even so, there is a continued increase in many parts of Europe.

Proposal for coal phase-out in Germany

BUND, a German environmental organisation, suggests a legally binding law to close all coal power stations by 2030.

Emissions are falling – but not enough

While emissions of acidifying sulphur pollutants in the EU have come down by 84 per cent since 1990, those of nitrogen compounds have fallen only by 41 per cent.

UK brought to court on bad air quality

New figures from the UK government show air quality in some of the country’s biggest cities will not meet European Union pollution limits until after 2030, twenty years after the original deadline.

Sustainable food choices

Excluding meat from our diet is not enough on its own to benefit the climate. Eating a lot of cheese or simply eating a lot of everything also leads to high greenhouse gas emissions.

New figures on global ship emissions

In 2012 worldwide shipping consumed some 300 million tonnes of fuel oil, resulting in emissions of 949 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Unless concerted action is taken, these emissions are expected to grow by up to five times by 2050.

US to cut CO2 from existing power plants

By 2030, the CPP proposal should reduce CO₂ emissions from the power sector by 30 per cent nationwide, compared to 2005 levels, and provide up to US$93 billion in climate and public health benefits

Carbon dioxide concentration surges

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years, according to the latest data from the WMO.

EU’s Dirty thirty

The thirty most CO₂-polluting power plants in Europe also cause 20 per cent of the health costs of the sector.

Main menu

New ozone standard assessment

In this issue

Air pollution still harms ecosystems

Editorial: Protect people and nature from air pollution

Continued succes for renewables

Saving Turkey from coal

A fair share of climate responsibility

Lignite power provides bargain-priced pollution

Proposal for coal phase-out in Germany

Emissions are falling – but not enough

UK brought to court on bad air quality

Sustainable food choices

New figures on global ship emissions

US to cut CO2 from existing power plants

Carbon dioxide concentration surges

EU’s Dirty thirty

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

What we do

Air pollution

Climate Change

Policy initiatives

Do Your Bit!