ERA says Sahara dust, sea salt aerosols contribute to poor air quality

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has taken issue with an editorial in The Malta Independent on Sunday, saying that air quality in Malta is affected negatively by Sahara dust and sea salt aerosols.

The ERA issued the statement following the publication of the editorial ‘There’s something in the air’, of 13 May 2018, and to a number of statements made on air quality in Malta, specifically on particulate matter (mostly PM10) levels in Malta.

The ERA confirmed that traffic was the main source of anthropogenic (manmade) PM10 on the Maltese Islands. However, it is to be clarified that none of the air monitoring stations situated in various locations around the Maltese Islands have, over the past five years, exceeded the environmental quality objectives, or the so-called “limit values” mandated by national and EU legislation.

This does not mean that no action should be taken to curb traffic flows and related emissions; however, the authority believes statements on “dangerous levels of PM10 pollution” to be misleading. By way of clarification, the authority said, PM10 levels at the Msida station (which is a traffic site) are normally hovering below the limit. The situation is not helped by the fact that Saharan dust and sea salt aerosols contribute significantly to these levels, and health implications cannot be excluded for either the man-made or the natural components, the authority added.

In addition, the authority said that Malta’s uniqueness among European member states plays a significant role and should be taken into account when interpreting statistics in reports comparing member states against each other. In size and population density, Malta compares more to a major city within Europe than to a whole European state with expanses of open spaces. In addition, being a small island with significant exposure to sea spray, Malta’s geographical location in close proximity to North Africa and in particular to the Sahara also needs to be taken into consideration, the authority said. “These unique circumstances are not accounted for in reports such as that published by the European Environment Agency, making Malta appear to perform ‘worse’ than other countries which do not suffer from similar geographical specificities and climatic conditions.”

“Apart from the real-time data which is already available on each monitoring station’s website, the authority is in the process of finalising an ‘air quality index’, which will provide the general public with information on air quality levels in Malta. This information will be provided for every station and pollutant, including that of particulate matter, which might be of a health concern at high levels.”

The ERA statement did not refer to air pollution caused by construction/demolition work.