South West

The indicator measures the amount of ammonia (NH3) emissions as a result of the agricultural production. The EU inventory on air pollution compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) is fully consistent with national air pollution inventories compiled by the EU Member States. Ammonia emissions per hectare are calculated using the total utilised agricultural area (UAA) of the relevant year as denominator.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is used to measure water quality. It refers to the amount of oxygen required by aerobic microorganisms to decompose organic substances in a water sample over a period of five days in the dark at 20°C (BOD5), measured as milligrams per litre (mg O2/L) and weighted by the number of measuring stations. High values of BOD5 are usually a sign of organic pollution, which affects the water quality. The cleanest rivers have BOD5 values of less than 1 mg O2/L, moderately and heavily polluted rivers show values ranging from 2 to 8 mg O2/L. Only complete series after inter/extrapolation are presented. For details on the total of measuring stations and their distribution over the countries, please consult the metadata file.

The indicator measures the volume of aggregated consumption of chemicals for the EU27 (from 2020), expressed in million tonnes. The consumption of chemicals is calculated as the sum of the production volumes (PRODCOM) and the net import volumes of the chemicals (COMEXT) according to the equation: Consumption = production + imports – exports. The data on hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals show the total consumption of all chemicals regardless of their hazardousness. The two sub-categories on consumption of hazardous chemicals – hazardous to human health and hazardous to the environment – overlap by definition and data cannot be summed up.

The indicator measures the population weighted annual mean concentration of particulate matter at urban background stations in agglomerations. Fine and coarse particulates (PM10), i.e. particulates whose diameters are less than 10 micrometers, can be carried deep into the lungs where they can cause inflammation and exacerbate the condition of people suffering heart and lung diseases. Fine particulates (PM2.5) are those whose diameters are less than 2.5 micrometers. They are therefore a subset of the PM10 particles. Their deleterious health impacts are more serious than PM10 as they can be drawn further into the lungs and may be more toxic.

6.1. Reference area

6.1. Reference area

The indicator measures the proportion of the population who declare that they are affected either by noise from neighbours or from the street. Because the assessment of noise pollution is subjective, it should be noted that the indicator accounts for both the levels of noise pollution as well as people’s standards of what level they consider to be acceptable. Therefore, an increase in the value of the indicator may not necessarily indicate a similar increase in noise pollution levels but also a decrease of the levels that European citizens are willing to tolerate and vice versa. In fact, there is empirical evidence that perceived environmental quality by individuals is not always consistent with the actual environmental quality assessed using ‘objective’ indicators, particularly for noise.

The indicator shows the population-weighted concentration of ozone to which the urban population is potentially exposed. The principle metric for assessing the effects of ozone on human health is, according to the World Health Organisation’s recommendations (*), the daily maximum 8-hour mean. Ozone effects should be assessed over a full year. Current evidence is insufficient to derive a level below which ozone has no effect on mortality. However, for practical reason it is recommended to consider an exposure parameter which is the sum of excess of daily maximum 8-h means over the cut-off of 70 μg/m3 (35 ppb) calculated for all days in a year. This exposure parameter has been indicated as SOMO35 (sum of means over 35), and is extensively used in the health impact assessments, including the Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Programme leading to the Commission Communication on the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution. The indicator is published by Eurostat based on data from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The indicator is a Sustainable Development Indicator (SDI). It has been chosen for the assessment of the progress towards the objectives and targets of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.   tsdph380´s table: Eurobase > Tables by themes > Environment and Energy > Environment > Greenhouse gases/Air polution > Urban population exposure to air pollution by ozone (tsdph380) tsdph380´s table within the SDI set: Eurobase > Tables on EU policy> Sustainable Development Indicators > Public health > Determinants of health >Urban population exposure to air pollution by ozone (tsdph380)   (*) UN ECE (2004) Summary report prepared by the joint Task Force on the Health Aspects of Air Pollution of the World Health Organization/European Centre for Environment and Health and the Executive Body, EB.AIR/WG.1/2004/11

The indicator shows the population-weighted concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 to which the urban population is potentially exposed. Fine and coarse particulates (PM10) are those whose diameter is less than 10 micrometres, whilst fine particulates (PM2.5) are those whose diameters are less than 2.5 micrometers. Particulates can be carried deep into the lungs where they can cause inflammation and a worsening of the condition of people with heart and lung diseases. The smaller the particles the deeper they travel into the lungs, with more potential for harm. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) the annual mean concentration is the best indicator for PM-related health effects. In 1996, the Environment Council adopted Framework Directive 96/62/EC on ambient air quality assessment and management. The first Daughter Directive (1999/30/EC) relating to limit values for PM10 and other pollutants in ambient air fixed an annual limit value of 40 micrograms of PM10 per cubic meter (40 µg/m3). Note that the WHO guideline value is 20 µg/m3 (annual mean). More recently, the Directive 2008/50/EC set a framework to define and establish objectives for ambient air quality and to harmonise methods and criteria among the Member States. This does have limits for PM2.5. The limit value that was due to be met on 1 January 2015 is 25 µg/m3, which falls to 20 µg/m3 by 2020. Note that the WHO guideline value is 10 µg/m3 (annual mean). The directive 2008/50/EC also places a requirement on Member States to assess and reduce population exposure to concentrations of PM2.5 by 2020. The magnitude of the required reduction depends on national average concentrations between 2009 and 2011. Where concentrations for those years were greater than 22 µg/m3, all appropriate measures should be used to reduce below 18 µg/m3 by 2020.