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Around 1,300 people in Ireland died prematurely last year due to air pollution, while the M50 and the Dublin Port Tunnel were the highest in harmful vehicle emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
While air quality in Ireland is generally good, the EPA said, some 33 monitoring stations in Ireland exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for air pollution, mainly due to fossil fuels.
The 33 locations exceeded WHO guidelines primarily due to burning solid fuel in cities, towns and villages, according to the EPA’s air quality report.
Ireland was above the European Environment Agency’s reference level for PAH, a toxic chemical, at four monitoring sites due to the burning of solid fuels, the report added.
It is estimated that particulate matter from solid fuel burning causes 1,300 premature deaths per year. Particulate matter is said to be all solid and liquid particles suspended in the air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
Poor air quality has serious short-term health implications, such as headaches, shortness of breath, eye irritation, or heart problems; and in the long term, with diseases such as asthma, reduced liver function and heart disease.
Dr Ciara McMahon, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, said: “Ireland is famous for its countryside and clean fresh air, but we can no longer take this for granted. Poor air quality affects people’s health and quality of life, so now is the time to tackle the two key issues that have a negative impact on air quality in Ireland: emissions from transport over large areas. and the emissions from the burning of solid fuels in our cities, towns and cities. peoples “.
A traffic monitoring location in the city of Dublin exceeded the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels set by the EU, the EPA said.
NO2 concentrations were highest around the M50 motorway in Dublin, some city center streets, the entrance / exit of the Dublin Port tunnel.
The EPA said monitoring has shown that, in urban areas, the impact of traffic-related nitrogen dioxide pollution is increasing. The report said it will continue “unless we control our dependence on fossil fuel-powered transportation, particularly diesel cars.”
Environmental and health experts have rated NO2 as one of the worst pollutants, and in recent years there is a major shift in environmental policy across the EU due to NO2 emissions.
The EU diesel emissions scandal in 2015 came after it was discovered that German car giant Volkswagen and other companies had inserted so-called “deactivation devices” into their vehicles to make it appear that NO2 emissions were higher. lower than they really were. The outrage was such that governments eventually decided to ban fossil fuel vehicles for the next 20 years.
Dr. McMahon said, “We need to decarbonize our public transportation system and generally reduce our dependence on diesel and gasoline vehicles.”
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