A report published in 2006 by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that air quality limit values, which are aimed at protecting public health, are frequently exceeded especially in streets and other urban hotspots. As more and more evidence of the adverse health effects of fine particulate matters is emerging, the improvement of air quality becomes imperative.

The report provides an estimate of hotspot air pollution levels that occur at local scale within cities as compared to the urban background concentration levels. The results are alarming: street air pollution increments are observed across the European cities. This is why the EEA concludes that the sensitivity of the street emissions and the consequent air quality calculations at local scale must be evaluated using the parameters of the Typology Methodology.

Since 2003, the EEA has been funding the Street Emission Ceilings (SEC) project within the work programme of the European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change (ETC/ACC). The main aim of SEC is to study street level air quality and to develop model assessment systems that may be used for integrated assessment purposes.

 To read the complete report, please visit the EEA website
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