Almost 1,200 people die prematurely every year in Ireland as a result of air pollution, a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed.

According to the report, an estimated 1,180 premature deaths occur here annually and there are two main culprits which contribute to this:
-Particulate matter (fine particles in the air) from the domestic burning of solid fuels
-Nitrogen dioxide from vehicle emissions in urban areas.

The report noted that while air quality in Ireland complied with legally binding EU standards in 2018, it did not meet the World Health Organization's health-related guideline values.

It expressed particular concern about particulate matter, pointing out that levels of this pollutant tend to be very high during the winter due to the burning of solid fuels such as coal, peat and wood. This has a detrimental impact on air quality, especially in smaller towns and villages.

Meanwhile, in urban areas, transport-related emissions of nitrogen dioxide are on the rise. As a result, Ireland is expected to exceed the EU's annual legal limit for the gas in the near future.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Dr Micheál Lehane, director of the EPA's Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, said that while we all expect that the air we breathe is clean, "we cannot take this for granted".

"Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health, so it is now time to tackle the two key issues that impact negatively on air quality in Ireland - transport emissions in large urban areas and emissions from the burning of solid fuels.

"The choices we make affect the levels of pollution in the air we breathe. We need to decarbonise our public transport system and in general reduce our reliance on internal combustion vehicles. Moving to cleaner ways of heating our homes will also significantly improve air quality in our towns and cities," he commented.

The EPA suggests a number of solutions to this major issue, including moving towards cleaner ways of heating our homes. For more information on this, click here.

It also calls on individuals to consider their transport choices.

Meanwhile, according to EPA programme manager, Dr Ciara McMahon, these pollutants have a negative impact on people's health.

"That is why we are continuing to install more monitoring stations across the country under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme. This programme has now more than doubled the number of real-time monitoring stations providing air quality data across Ireland since 2017," she noted.

The report, Air Quality in Ireland 2018, was published to coincide with World Lung Day (September 25) and can be viewed here.