Brussels asks Malta to provide air pollution data

The European Commission yesterday wrote to the government demanding data on the quality of air and to state what action will be taken to comply with the EU's air quality standard for dangerous airborne particles, or PM10.

The coarse particles, emitted by industry and traffic, can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death.

The Commission's action follows the entry into force last month of a major new EU air quality directive, which allows member states to request limited extra time to meet the PM10 standard under certain conditions.

Malta has until the end of October to notify the Commission of its requests or risk facing legal action.

The Commission explained that, in recognition of the difficulty many member states face in complying with some EU air quality standards, the new directive allows for the possibility of limited time extensions for compliance. In the case of PM10, for which the mandatory standard has been in force since 2005, the extension can run until June 2011.

It is estimated that, on average, 40 per cent of air quality zones in the EU do not comply with the PM10 standard.

Time extensions will be granted only for zones that satisfy the conditions laid down in the directive, which relate to external factors over which the member states have no direct control, such as trans-boundary contributions and adverse climatic conditions. Outside these areas the air quality standards must be fully met.

Although many member states do not comply with this new directive, Malta's standard of air quality is considered to be "poor", particularly due to the impact of its booming construction industry.

According to data given to the Commission by the Maltese authorities in 2005, the whole of the island exceeds EU air quality limits.

A Commission spokesman told The Times a few weeks ago that according to the latest information (2005), Malta's two air quality stations reported to the Commission exceeded daily PM10 limit values for 81 and 126 days respectively and also the annual limit value, which is established at 40 micrograms/m3.

What is particulate matter (PM)?

Particulate matter, or PM, are very small dust and soot particles. They are categorised as PM10 and PM2.5.

PM10 is matter that is 10 micrometers in diameter. That would be about one-seventh the width of a strand of human hair. PM2.5 is even smaller, measuring 2.5 micrometers or less.

PM is made up of a number of components. Soil and dust particles and certain metals are emitted directly into the air as PM.

The primary human-caused sources of PM include blowing dust from construction sites and agricultural activities as well as combustion products from solid fuels such as fly ash (from power plants), carbon black (from automobiles and diesel engines) and soot (from fireplaces and wood stoves).