The UK Air Quality Strategy
The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland aims to protect people's health and the environment. It describes government plans to improve and protect ambient air quality and the measures that will help to deliver cleaner air quickly.The Strategy sets health-based standards for air pollutants known to harm human health and which occur widely throughout the UK, and objectives for their achievement:
| Pollutant | Objective (as concentration) | Measured as | Date to achieve by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene1 | 16.25µg/m3 (5ppb) | running annual mean | 31 December 2003 |
| 5µg/m3 | annual mean | 31 December 2010 | |
| 1,3-butadiene | 2.25µg/m3 (1ppb) | running annual mean | 31 December 2003 |
| Carbon monoxide | 10.0mg/m3 | maximum daily running 8 hour mean | 31 December 2003 |
| Lead | 0.5µg/m3 | annual mean | 31 December 2004 |
| 0.25µg/m3 | annual mean | 31 December 2008 | |
| Nitrogen dioxide2 | 200µg/m3 (105ppb) not to be exceeded more than 18 times a year | 1 hour mean | 31 December 2005 |
| 40µg/m3 (21ppb) | annual mean | 31 December 2005 | |
| Particles (PM10) | 50µg/m3 not to be exceeded more than 35 times a year | 24 hour mean | 31 December 2004 |
| 40µg/m3 | annual mean | 31 December 2004 | |
| Sulphur Dioxide | 350µg/m3 (132ppb) not to be exceeded more than 24 times a year | 1 hour mean | 31 December 2004 |
| 125µg/m3 (47ppb) not to be exceeded more than3 times a year | 24 hour mean | 31 December 2004 | |
| 266µg/m3 (100ppb) not to be exceeded more than 35 times a year | 15 minute mean | 31 December 2005 | |
1 The Objective of 5µg/m3 for benzene and the Objective of 10mg/m3 for carbon monoxide came into force in separate Air Quality (Amendment) Regulations for England and Wales on 11 December 2002 and 31 December 2002 respectively.
2The Objectives for nitrogen dioxide are provisional.
For the purposes of Local Air Quality Management, ozone is not included in the Air Quality Strategy regulations. This is due to the nature of ozone formation and its persistence. Ozone can take several days to form and once produced can then persist for several days, and over this period ozone and its precursors may have travelled large distances.
This means that ozone formation resulting from activities in one country will influence ozone concentrations in other countries, and this makes ozone pollution a transboundary problem. Therefore, action on regional and global scales will be most effective in tackling this problem.