Air quality falls below standard
WHILE Bray compares more favourably to Longford in terms of air quality and complies with the legal limits, the World Health Organisations health-related guideline values were not met – as was the case across the country.
The Environmental Protection Agency compared Bray with Lonford in its recent report, highlighting the importance that solid fuel use has on air quality.
While Bray has a ban on the sale and use of bituminous coal and is part of the gas network, Longford has no ban and is not connected to the gas network.
The level of harmful particles in the air in Longford can be twice as high as they are in Bray.
The EPA measured the level of PM2.5, a harmful particle produced when smoky coal is burned, during a five-year period, from 2013 to 2018.
They found that although the air at both locations, at times, does not meet the WHO air quality guideline for PM2.5, it is worse in Longford due to the increased use of solid fuel for home heating.
The Air Quality report, launched on World Lung Day, shows that while Irish air quality complied with the legal limits, the World Health Organisation’s health-related guideline values were not met.
Dr Micheál Lehane, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection & Environmental Monitoring, said, ‘We all expect that the air we breathe is clean, but we cannot take this for granted. Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health, so it is now time to tackle the two key issues that impact negatively on air quality in Ireland – transport emissions in large urban areas and emissions from burning of solid fuels. ‘ The choices we make affect the levels of pollution in the air we breathe. We need to decarbonise our public transport system and in general reduce our reliance on internal combustion vehicles. Moving to cleaner ways of heating our homes will also significantly improve air quality in our towns and cities.’
Deputy Stephen Donnelly has voiced serious concerns over the report.
‘Unfortunately, these tests indicate that we still have an issue with the dust that comes from burning solid fuels,’ he said. ‘ The other major factor is the pollution that’s undoubtedly coming from all the traffic on our roads. This is a very disappointing result as Bray banned the use of smoky coal specifically to improve our air quality.
‘Bray’s failure has to be a wake-up call for all of us who care about the environment. We need to follow the wonderful example set by school students who’ve staged several climate strikes in the past few weeks. In Fianna Fáil we have three simple solutions that could make a big difference if the Government would bring them in. Firstly, we want to set up a Green Deal Agency to help people upgrade their homes for energy efficiency, so they don’t have to rely on fossil fuels any more. We’d also like to freeze public transport fees for 3 years to get as many cars as possible off the roads.’