Up in the air? Delivering cleaner air in a socially just way

This is due to the ability of such small particles to reach into the lungs and the bloodstream.19 It should also be stressed that, while the report will discuss the sources of, and harms caused by, the main air pollutants, its policy recommendations will focus on efforts to reduce PM2.5 and NOx emissions. [...] 33 Index: 2011 = 100 Up in the air? Calculated on a scale of one to ten, with one indicating the lowest level of air pollution and ten indicating the highest, DAQI is calculated daily based on the maximum concentrations of NO2, SO2, O3, PM2.5 and PM10 in a particular area.22 That is, DAQI is determined by the amount of each pollutant in the air on a given day rather than the total emissions, or ho. [...] 36 Introduction Main air pollutant limits and targets in the UK Despite the reductions in air pollution over many decades, concentrations of air pollutants in parts of the UK remain well above the limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and, in the case of NOx, above the UK government’s own legal limits. [...] Unlike the other pollutants, the recommended limit for the average annual concentration of SO2 actually increased from 20 µg/m3 in 2005 to 40 µg/m3 in 2021.43 Following the 2021 Environment Act, the UK Government set a target to reduce the annual limit of PM2.5, described by the then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice MP, as “most damaging pollutant”,44 to 1. [...] To assess compliance with the UK’s air pollutant concentration limits and because not all parts of the UK are monitored, data from the AURN is combined with modelled estimates to produce an “a national assessment of air quality against the [UK’s legal] limit and target values”.50 As mandated by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010, this assessment is published in the annual Air pollution in.