Limerick City and Ennis among areas regularly exceeding WHO air pollution standards
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Many areas of the country, including parts of Limerick City and Ennis, are regularly exceeding newly recommended long-term air pollution standards.
That is according to research from a University of Galway masters candidate, who said even cursory checks of air quality sensors across Ireland shows parts of the country glaringly behind newly-revised standards as laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Air pollution is linked to 7m premature deaths globally, 400,000 in the EU, and more than 1,300 in Ireland every year due to factors such as particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.
Particulate matter is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
Nitrogen dioxide causes inflammation of the airways in high doses, which can cause irreversible damage to the respiratory system. Traffic congestion is a major contributor to nitrogen dioxide.
The WHO published updated recommendations for air quality in 2021 after a scientific review but the EU has yet to update its own directive, last revised more than a decade ago.
The European Commission published its revised Ambient Air Quality Directive proposal in October last year but environmental and health campaigners say it is not going through the bureaucratic process quickly enough.
University of Galway student Criodán Ó Murchú is doing a masters in environmental science at Galway University, and as part of his work, is examining air pollution in Dublin City.
However, he has also looked at various locations around Ireland using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data from its air quality sensor network.
He said: "I have compiled a number of provisional results from 2022 and have discovered that many areas of the country experience long-term air pollutant concentrations above the WHO's air quality guideline levels. Whilst in-line with EU air quality standards, these are severely out of date with more recent air quality guidelines."
Eyre Square in Galway, the People's Park and Henry Street in Limerick, Ennis town, Mullingar, Roscommon, and Longford towns were notable in their exceedence of WHO guidelines, he said.
"All the data is publicly available through the EPA but there is a misalignment of standards at EU level which is still looking at it through old WHO standards. The WHO and scientific consensus is that the old standards are unsafe and it is time they were overhauled.
Estimates that poor air quality causes 1,300 premature deaths in Ireland annually are likely out of date, with
figures closer to more than 3,300, according to a leading chemistry expert late last year.
University College Cork emeritus chemistry professor and air quality campaigner John Sodeau said estimates needed to be reevaluated, as 96% of the urban population was exposed to levels of fine particulate matter above WHO guidelines in 2020.