Road traffic cause most NO2 exceedances

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has recently published a briefing on managing air quality in Europe. The report reviews the status of countries’ air quality plans required when air pollution limits are exceeded. The report also identified the sources behind such exceedances of air quality limits. The principal driver of exceedances of nitrogen dioxides was road traffic, with 64% of all reported exceedances linked to dense traffic in urban centres and proximity to major roads. For many western European countries road traffic was the only major source of exceedances. In contrast, road traffic was a less important source in eastern Europe, behind only 8% of exceedances in Poland, 15% in Bulgaria and 20% in Lithuania. The number of measures put in place in the air quality plans differed widely between countries.

The briefing can be read in full at eea.europa.eu/publications/managing-air-quality-in-europe/managing-airquality-in-europe.