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Particulate (PM 10) Concentrations: 1993-2007
Annual mean concentrations (µg/m 3)
Site 1 | 1993 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|
Annual mean concentrations (µg/m 3) |
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Glasgow Centre | - | - | 29 | 20 | 21 | 20 |
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Edinburgh 2 | 30 | 26 | 23 | 18 | 20 | 19 |
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Aberdeen | - | - | 20 | 19 | 20 | 17 |
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Number of days exceeding 50µg/m 3 |
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Glasgow Centre | - | - | 25 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
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Edinburgh 2 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
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Aberdeen | - | - | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
|---|
Particulate pollution can harm the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and is linked to asthma and mortality. Smaller particles are the most damaging and current targets focus on particles less than 10µm in diameter (PM 10).
The greatest source of PM 10 is combustion. In particular, road transport accounted for around 21% of UK emissions of PM 10 in 2006.3 Between 1990 and 2006, UK emissions of PM 10 fell by 50%. 3
The Air Quality Strategy 4 objectives for PM 10 come in two stages. Stage 1 (to be met by the end of 2004): a 24-hour mean of 50µg/m 3 not to be exceeded more than 35 times a year, and an annual mean of 40µg/m 3. Stage 2 (to be met by the end of 2010): a 24-hour mean of 50µg/m 3 not to be exceeded more than seven times a year, and an annual mean of 18µg/m 3. Stage 1 objectives were met at all of the automatic monitoring sites in 2007. Stage 2 objectives were met at three of the eight automatic monitoring sites in Scotland - Aberdeen, Grangemouth and Inverness.
Source: UK National Air Quality Archive
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