Found 2237 publications. Showing page 26 of 224:
Fluorinated polymers in a low carbon, circular and toxic-free economy. Technical report.
Fluorinated polymers are used in a variety of applications providing benefits to the society, but at the same time also causing risks of irreversible pollution and impacts on the environment and human health in different stages of the lifecycle. The main aim of the study was to provide information on impacts of fluorinated polymers along their lifecycles in a low carbon, circular and toxic-free economy, which could be relevant to consider in future assessments. An important part of the work was also to discuss options for risk governance and to identify knowledge gaps. The work was based on a literature survey of recently published reports and selected peer-reviewed articles on the topic.
The report presents the results of the work carried out by the ETC/WMGE and ETC/CME.
ETC/WMGE
2021
This report presents VOC (volatile organic compound) measurements carried out during 2019 at EMEP monitoring sites. In total, 19 sites reported VOC-data from EMEP VOC sites this year. Some of the data-sets are considered preliminary and are not included in the report.
The monitoring of VOC has become more diverse with time in terms of instrumentation. Starting in the early 1990s with standardized methods based on manual sampling in steel canisters and adsorption tubes with subsequent analyses at the lab, the methods now consist of a variety of instruments and measurement principles, including automated continuous monitors and manual flask samples.
Within the EU infrastructure project ACTRIS, data quality issues related to measurements of VOC are an important topic. Many of the institutions providing VOC-data to EMEP are participating in the ACTRIS infrastructure project, either as formal partners or on a voluntary basis. Participation in ACTRIS means an extensive effort with data-checking including detailed discussions between the ACTRIS community and individual participants. There is no doubt that this extensive effort has benefited the EMEP-program substantially and has led to improved data quality in general.
Comparison between median levels in 2019 and the medians of the previous 10-years period, revealed similar geographical patterns as in the previous years. Changes in instrumentation, procedures and station network with time make it difficult though to provide a rigorous and pan-European assessment of long-term trends of the observed VOCs. In this report, we have estimated the trends in NMHC over the 2000-2019 period at five sites by three independent statistical methods. All three methods gave comparable estimates of the trends, although the Mann-Kendall method based on annual data (compared to daily data for the other two methods) found fewer significant trends.
These estimates indicate marked differences in the long-term trends for the individual species. Small or non-significant trends were found for ethane during 2000-2019. Propane also showed fairly small reductions. On the other hand, components linked to road traffic (ethene, ethyne and benzene) showed the strongest drop in mean concentrations, up to 60-80% at some stations.
NILU
2021
Transboundary particulate matter, photo-oxidants, acidifying and eutrophying components
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
2021
Quality assurance and quality control procedure for national and Union GHG projections 2021
The quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedure is an element of the QA/QC programme of the Union system for policies and measures and projections to be established in 2021 according to Article 39 of the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action (EU) 2018/1999. The European Environment Agency (EEA) is responsible for the annual implementation of the QA/QC procedures and is assisted by the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME). The QA/QC procedure document describes QA/QC checks carried out at EU level on the national reported projections from Member States and on the compiled Union GHG projections. QA/QC procedures are performed at several different stages during the preparation of the national and Union GHG projections in order to aim to ensure the timeliness, transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness of the reported information. The results of the 2021 QA/QC procedure are presented in the related paper ETC/CME Eionet Report 8/2021.
ETC/CME
2021
Effects of rocket launches in Ny-Ålesund, 2018 - 2019. Observations of snow and air samples.
The report summarizes the results from additional snow sampling and regular monitoring activities in connection to the rocket launch in Ny-Ålesund 7 Dec 2018, 26 Nov 2019 and 10 Dec 2019 to document possible impacts on environment and on the monitoring activities in Ny-Ålesund. An enhanced deposition of aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) on the local environment due to the rocket launch is observed.
NILU
2021
The report provides interim 2020 maps for PM10 annual average, NO2 annual average and the ozone indicator SOMO35. The maps have been produced based on non-validated Up-To-Date data reported to the AQ e-reporting database (data flow E2a), the CAMS Ensemble Forecast modelling data and other supplementary data including air quality data reported to EMEP. In addition to concentration maps, the inter-annual differences between the years 2019 and 2020 are presented (using the 2019 regular and the 2020 interim maps), as well as European exposure estimates based on the interim maps. The contribution of lockdown measures connected with the Covid-19 pandemic on the change of air pollutant concentrations during the exceptional year 2020 is briefly discussed. The decrease in road transport, aviation and international shipping intensity during the lockdown resulted in a reduction of the NOx emission, mainly in large cities and urbanized areas. Compared to 2019, a general decrease in NO2 annual average concentrations is shown for 2020, as well as a decrease in values of the ozone indicator SOMO35, apart from areas with a steep NO2 decrease. Due to the chemical processes, the decrease in NOX resulted in an ozone increase in these areas. The contribution of lockdown measures on the change of PM10 concentrations is quite complex. On the one hand, there was a decrease in emissions of suspended particles and their precursors due to decrease in transport. On the other hand, higher intensity of residential heating likely led to higher emissions of both suspended particles and their precursors.
ETC/ATNI
2021
Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) annual mapping. Evaluation of its potential regular updating.
The report examines the potential regular production of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) maps at the European scale in line with the operational production of other air quality maps. Stations measuring BaP are relatively scarce at the European scale, so in order to extend the spatial coverage, so-called pseudo station data have been calculated and used together with the actual BaP measurement data. These pseudo station data are derived from PM2.5 or PM10 measurements in locations with no BaP observations.
ETC/ATNI
2021
On behalf of Aluminiumindustriens Miljøsekretariat (AMS), NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research has conducted a sampling campaign in the surroundings of the Hydro Sunndal aluminium smelter in order to update the knowledge on air quality around the smelter today. Samples were taken in summer 2019 and analysed for PM2.5, PM10, metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, As, Al, V, Ga, Sb, Bi), particle-bound PAHs, SO2, particle-bound and gaseous fluorides. As a consequence of reduced emissions compared to earlier measurements, the ambient concentrations of PM10, Cr, Pb, BaP (for PAHs), SO2 and fluorides were strongly reduced. All measured compounds had concentrations below limit values and recommended
guideline values.
NILU
2021
This report provides a summary of the quality analysis of the EU Member States’ submission under 18 (1) (b) of the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action (EU) 2018/1999 conducted in 2021. Under this obligation EU Member States have to submit updated GHG projections and related information biennially. The reported information undergoes several phases of QA/QC checks consisting of checks on timeliness, accuracy, completeness, consistency and comparability. Details on the underlying QA/QC procedure are described in ETC/CME Eionet Report 7/2021.
ETC/CME
2021