Assessing the siting of industrial sampling points

Project details

Status: Concluded

Project period: 2023–2025

Principal: DG Environment (FRA/C.3/ ENV/2021/OP/0017)

Coordinating institution: NILU

Collaborators: Ricardo: - Andrew Kent - Jack Davison - Ella Wingard

NILU and Ricardo are supporting the European Commission with an evaluation of the siting of industrial monitoring stations (sampling points).

Air quality measurements at industrial locations are intended to assess the impact of industrial emission on population health and ecosystems. Therefore, appropriately sited sampling points are essential to understanding the impact of industrial emissions, which is necessary to design meaningful monitoring network, implement effective abatement strategies, and inform supplementary assessment methods such as dispersion modelling.

The AAQD (Ambient Air Quality Directive) provide rules and guidance for monitoring stations across different environments, including specific rules for those classified as industrial. The overarching aim is to underpin assessments by the European Commission of whether the criteria for placing industrial sampling points are applied throughout the European Union in a harmonised manner and whether the application of the criteria ensures that the highest exposure of the general population to air pollution from industrial sources is measured in all air quality zones.

We have carried out an evaluation of the 2019 monitoring network across Europe in the vicinity of industrial sources and developed an interactive viewer that is to help air quality monitoring experts understand whether their current industrial monitoring network is in alignment with the AAQDs requirements.

The interactive viewer displays specific siting criteria, such as proximity to the nearest sampling point, affected population, protected ecosystems, and prevailing wind direction – and cover every pollutant analyzed in the study, including Particulate Matter (PM10), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulphur Oxides (SOx), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), and Lead (Pb).