Clean air is essential for our quality of life. While recent decades have seen significant improvements in air quality in Ireland, air pollution continues to cause damage to both our health and environment. The EPA’s annual ‘Air Quality in Ireland’ reports consistently state that Ireland’s air quality is generally good, but that some localised areas of concern remain. These arise mainly from residential and transport emissions.
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In addition, the European Environment Agency states that air pollution is linked to approx. 1,400 premature deaths in Ireland each year. This is up to ten times the number of people who die on our roads. These deaths arise from health conditions which are linked to air pollution, such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases.
A range of air quality legislation is therefore in place in Ireland to protect our air quality and safeguard the health of all.
Air quality monitoring in Ireland is led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the national Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (AAMP). Real-time and historic data from all monitoring stations across the State is available at all times at www.airquality.ie
In addition, the EPA operates an Air Quality Index for Health (AQIH), which runs on a scale from 1 (Good) to 10 (Very Poor). The latest AQIH for all monitoring station locations is also available at all times at www.airquality.ie
Westmeath County Council has monitoring and enforcement responsibilities and powers under a range of Air Quality legislation, including:
The current Solid Fuels Regulations took effect from 31 October 2022, and apply equally across the State.
The primary focus of these regulations is on improving air quality and improving people’s health outcomes, by restricting the retail, online and commercial sale of smoky fuels, including smoky coal, turf and wet wood. These fuels are proven to be a major contributor to air pollution in Ireland.
The thresholds which now apply are:
The Regulations also place certain obligations on producers, importers, and retailers of solid fuels.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has produced and regularly updates dedicated FAQs for the following sectors:
These may be found at www.gov.ie/cleanair
The videos below help to raise awareness of the solid fuel regulations, and ask people to think twice before lighting a fire if they also have other forms of heat available:
These Regulations make it an offence to dispose of waste by burning it, except in certain prescribed conditions which must be approved by the Local Authority.
Note that while such burning is often referred to as ‘Backyard Burning’, as in outdoor burning of waste (including agricultural/horticultural waste), the Regulations also make it an offence to burn domestic waste in a fireplace, stove, or other appliance.
Further information is available on the EPA website and in the video below:
The Decorative Paints Regulations and Solvents Regulations limit the volatile organic compounds (VOC) content of widely-used paint products and solvents, as VOCs pose a risk to health and the environment.
Motor factors, vehicle refinishers, paint suppliers and dry cleaners are the main sectors that are subject to these Regulations.
The Local Authority’s main roles in this area are to issue certificates to compliant users, and to pursue non-registered or non-compliant users.
Further information is available from the EPA website at:
These Regulations put controls on petroleum vapour emissions resulting from the storage and distribution of petrol which is intended for use as fuel in motor vehicles. Facility owners and operators are obliged to ensure that their facility is designed and operated in accordance with these Regulations.
All petrol station owners are required to engage the services of an independent approved assessor to carry out an assessment of the vapour recovery system at the service station, and to then apply to the Local Authority for a certificate.
Section 24 of the Air Pollution Act, 1987 lays down a general obligation on minimising and preventing emissions:
The Act also confers Local Authorities with the powers to take appropriate enforcement action where this is breached. This may include prosecutions and fines of up to €5,000 on summary conviction.
Radon is a radioactive gas which originates from the decay of uranium in rocks and soils. It is colourless, odourless and tasteless and can only be measured using special detectors. When radon surfaces in the open air, it is quickly diluted to harmless concentrations, but when it enters an enclosed space, such as a house or other building, it can sometimes accumulate to unacceptably high levels.
Radon decays to form tiny radioactive particles, when inhaled into the lungs these particles can result in a radiation dose which may damage cells in the lung and increase the risk of lung cancer. In Ireland about 300 cases of lung cancer are linked to radon each year.
The government has set a reference level of 200 Bq/m3 for households and recommends that all homes have radon levels below this. Radon is easy to test for and it is easy to reduce the levels of radon in your home.
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Website: www.radon.ie