PollTrail

Inspiration

The intricate and interconnected impact of air pollution on human health, various environmental components, the climate and the economy necessitates a comprehensive evaluation and measurement of the consequences resulting from both gaseous and particulate pollutants across diverse time steps and geographical areas. This depth of understanding is essential to comply with European Union (EU) clean air policy regulations, such as Directive 2008/50/EC, and to work towards achieving the EU's ambitious goal of zero pollution by 2050. In essence, only by comprehensively assessing and quantifying the effects of air pollutants can significant progress in safeguarding human well-being  be made. These will allow our environment to be preserved, climate change to be mitigated, and sustainable economic growth to be fostered, all in line with the EU's visionary pollution reduction objectives for the coming decades. Throughout 2024 and 2025, LIST will address these challenges and support Luxembourg’s Environmental Agency (AEV) with a suite of different air quality assessments.

Innovation

A holistic assessment is essential to guide and inform the development of policies and strategies that will effectively reduce air pollution, safeguard public health, protect ecosystems, mitigate climate change and promote economic sustainability. In line with the ongoing update of the European Air Quality Guideline, there are plans to expand the national long-term air pollutant monitoring networks to include measurements of ammonia (NH₃) and ultra-fine particles (UFPs).

To date, Luxembourg lacks official measurements of these variables, but they are currently being conducted exclusively by LIST. These measurements are ongoing and will be expanded, and LIST will provide support and recommendations for the extension of the national network based on its expertise. Furthermore, LIST will provide a scientific evaluation of the long-term O₃ data sets collected in Luxembourg and the influence of local micrometeorology on diurnal and seasonal O₃ variations.

Impact

LIST measures various air pollutants with the help of the environmental measurement vehicle (EMV, see photo) and other mobile sensors. This allows a detailed assessment of the concentrations at contrasting locations (rural and urban) in Luxembourg and to the identification of hot spots potentially causing adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. In particular, LIST continues working with the long-term monitoring network for NH₃ in Luxembourg and will provide a survey of emission quantification models from livestock buildings. We will also deliver a scientific investigation on long-term O₃ measurements and the influence of local circulation patterns in evaluating station representativeness. With our EMV, we will perform an air quality assessment and source identification for NO₂ in Remich that can help the AEV to apply traffic control measures for pollution reduction. LIST is also committed to supporting the AEV in the establishment of supersites for the long-term monitoring of health-relevant UFPs.