Brussels, 17/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday in presenting a draft directive aimed at minimising the harmful effects of heavy metals in the air we breathe, the European Commission has just accomplished the full overhaul of our air quality legislation, which started with the Air Quality Framework Directive in 1996. The heavy metals in question are arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Prolonged inhalation of these pollutants can cause lung cancer and other adverse effects on human health. The proposed legislation will require air quality monitoring by Member States, which will provide the necessary information to take appropriate abatement measures and monitor their implementation.
It is estimated that in more than 150 areas within the enlarged EU, current ambient air concentrations of specific dangerous heavy metals, i.e. arsenic, cadmium and nickel, is estimated to result in death from cancer of one or more person in one million. Without new abatement measures, in 2010 more than 400 additional cases of lung cancer will be caused in the enlarged EU through inhalation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are a group of more than 20 carcinogens of similar chemical character, which are mainly emitted by incomplete combustion. Their total effect on human health can be assessed through monitoring the concentration of only one of them, namely benzo-a-pyrene. In some residential areas, annual average concentrations of benzo-a-pyrene are as high as 3 nanogramme/m³ due to domestic heating by solid fuels such as coal and wood. The proposed legislation will require Member States to take cost-effective measures to meet an annual target value of 1 ng/m³ benzo-a-pyrene. It will also draw Member States' attention to the need for abatement measures in busy streets where due to emissions from road traffic current levels of benzo-a-pyrene can amount to more than 3 ng/m³. Available information also indicates that concentrations of heavy metals and PAHs near certain industrial installations, e.g. iron and steel manufacturers, copper and nickel production, petroleum refineries and cokeries, pose a risk to human health. Under the 1996 Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, these installations are required, among other things, to prevent or reduce emission to air, through the application of best available techniques (BATs). Today's proposed Directive will support the implementation of these techniques by surveying the expected improvement of air quality. This will help overcome the difficulties in monitoring emissions from fugitive and diffusive sources, such as leakages and dust rising from the ground. The Commission will in 2008 review the effectiveness of the new directive and adapt it if and where necessary.