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New Air Quality Standards Recommended for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
27/07/1999
A health-based standard for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air has been recommended to the Government by the Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards. PAHs are a large group of organic compounds occurring both as gases and associated with particles. The main sources of PAHs are road traffic in towns and cities, and certain industrial processes, such as coke production and anode baking for aluminium smelting. Some PAHs are classified as probably carcinogenic to humans.
The Panel, chaired by Professor Anthony Seaton of the University of Aberdeen Medical School, has assessed the available health and air quality data and has recommended an Air Quality Standard for PAHs in the United Kingdom of 0.25 ng/m³ measured as an annual average using benzo [a] pyrene as a marker compound for the ambient mixture.
In their report the Panel states:
"This recommendation is intended to reduce any risk to the population of the United Kingdom from exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to one which the Panel believes would be so small as to be undetectable."
Commenting on the recommendation, Scottish Environment and Transport Minister Sarah Boyack said:
"I am grateful for the Panel's work. Their recommendations will assist us in meeting our Partnership commitment to steadily improve standards of air quality in Scotland."
The European Commission is currently undertaking technical discussions leading to the recommendation of a limit value for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The UK is chairing this technical working group and the EPAQS recommendation will contribute to this process.
BACKGROUND
1. The Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards (EPAQS) was established in 1991 to advise the UK Government on air quality standards. It is chaired by Professor Anthony Seaton, Head of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the Aberdeen University Medical School and members include medical and air pollution experts.
2. The terms of reference for the Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards are:
"To advise the Secretary of State for the Environment, Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales and Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland) as required, on non-occupational ambient air quality standards, with particular reference to the levels of airborne pollutants at which no or minimal effects on human health are likely to occur;
i. taking account of the best available evidence
· of the effects of air pollution on human health and
· of progressive development of the air quality monitoring network; but
ii. without reference to the practicality of abatement or mitigation measures, the economic costs and benefits of pollution control measures or other factors pertinent to the management rather than the assessment of risk;
"to identify gaps in the knowledge needed for standard setting and suggest potential priority areas for future research;
"to advise on other aspects of air quality and air pollution referred to it;
"for the purpose of informing the development of policy on the improvement of air quality and increasing public knowledge and understanding of air quality issues."
3. Measurement of PAHs in the UK began in the Toxic Organic MicroPollutants (TOMPs) Network in 1991. Sixteen sites are currently operated throughout the UK. There are two sites in Scotland: an industrial site at Kinlochleven and an urban background site in Glasgow.
4. At current ambient benzo[a]pyrene concentrations, the EPAQS recommendation is likely to be exceeded in most urban areas and may be exceeded in the vicinity of industrial processes which emit PAHs. Concentrations monitored at three national rural sites (all in England) do not exceed the recommended standard.
5. The EPAQS Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons report is available from The Stationery Office, ISBN 0-11-753503-6, priced £9.99. This recommendation for an air quality standard for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is one in a series by the Expert Panel on the principal pollutants. Earlier reports have covered lead, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, particles, ozone and sulphur dioxide and are available on the internet (http://www.environment.detr.gov.uk/airq/aqinfo.htm).
News Release: SE0163/99
27 July, 1999