Air Quality – it is important you know!
The latest Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality shows an estimated 1,300 people are prematurely dying each year in Ireland due to poor air quality.
Poor air quality has short-term health implications such as headaches, breathing difficulties and eye irritation and long-term effects including asthma, reduced liver function or cardiovascular disease.
Speaking upon the publication of the report, Dr Ciara McMahon of the EPA’s Environmental Monitoring office said that action must be taken to ensure that air quality is improved.
“Ireland is renowned for its countryside and clean fresh air, but we can no longer take this for granted,” McMahon said.
Particulate Matter (PM) was the pollutant most responsible for premature deaths in Ireland and PM is made up of very small particles in the air which can be solid or liquid. In Ireland, the primary source of PM is from solid fuel burning for home-heating.
The EPA report has found that 33 monitoring stations across Ireland recorded air pollutants at levels above World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
Levels are particularly high during the winter months, when elevated use of solid fuels such as coal, turf and wet wood impacts negatively on air quality, especially in towns and villages.
The other main pollutants in the air are nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), both from the burning of petrol and diesel.
Contact Eirdata to test the Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation in your building and prove to you that it is contributing to your wellness, not the reverse.
