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Assessing air pollution in European cities to support a citizen centered approach to air quality management

Rodrigues, V.; Gama, C.; Ascenso, A.; Oliveira, K.; Coelho, S.; Monteiro, A.; Hayes, E.; Lopes, M.

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Authors

V. Rodrigues

C. Gama

A. Ascenso

K. Oliveira

S. Coelho

A. Monteiro

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Enda Hayes Enda.Hayes@uwe.ac.uk
Prof in Air Quality & Carbon Management/School Director (Research & Enterprise)

M. Lopes



Abstract

European cities have made significant progress over the last decades towards clean air. Despite this progress, several cities are still facing acute air pollution episodes, with various urban areas frequently exceeding air quality levels allowed by the European legal standards and WHO guidelines. In this paper, six European cities/ regions (Bristol, UK; Amsterdam, NL; Sosnowiec, PL; Ljubljana, SI; Aveiro, PT; Liguria, IT) are studied in terms of air quality, namely particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. The concentrations trends from 2008 to 2017 in the different typology of monitoring stations are addressed, together with the knowledge of daily, weekly and seasonal pollution patterns to better understand the city specific profiles and to characterize pollutant dynamics and variations in multiple locations. Additionally, an analysis of the duration and severity of air pollution episodes is also discussed, followed by an analysis of the fulfillment of the legislated limit values. Each of our 6 case study locations face different air pollution problems, but all these case studies have made some progress in reducing ambient concentrations. In Bristol, there have been strong downward trends in many air pollutants, but the levels of NO2 remain persistently high and of concern. In recent years, decreasing concentration levels point to some success of Amsterdam air quality policies. PM10 exceedances are a seasonal pollution problem in Ljubljana, Sosnowiec and Aveiro region (even if with different levels of severity). While, exceedances of NO2 and O3 concentrations are still problematic in Liguria region. The main findings of this paper are particular relevant to define and compare future citizen-led strategies and policy initiatives that may be implemented to improve and fulfill the EU legislation and the WHO guidelines.

Citation

Rodrigues, V., Gama, C., Ascenso, A., Oliveira, K., Coelho, S., Monteiro, A., …Lopes, M. (2021). Assessing air pollution in European cities to support a citizen centered approach to air quality management. Science of the Total Environment, 799, Article 149311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149311

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 23, 2021
Online Publication Date Jul 30, 2021
Publication Date Dec 10, 2021
Deposit Date Aug 19, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Science of the Total Environment
Print ISSN 0048-9697
Electronic ISSN 1879-1026
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 799
Article Number 149311
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149311
Keywords European cities; EU legislation; Air quality; Monitoring data; Temporal patterns and trends
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7648523
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Assessing air pollution in European cities to support a citizen centered approach to air quality management; Journal Title: Science of The Total Environment; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149311; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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