A warning that air quality in Dublin will continue to suffer, and that it will fail to meet EU directive levels in current traffic conditions, was made yesterday in a report by a senior Dublin Corporation environmental scientist.
Mr Brian McManus of the office of traffic says in a report to city councillors that vehicle emissions for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene, toluene and xylene, and PM10 (particulate matter under 10 microns in size), are above recommended guide levels at present in the city "and will continue to remain so at heavily trafficked roadside locations".
Mr McManus's report notes of these substances that "it is estimated that a rise of 10 micrograms in PM10 levels is accompanied by an increase in the relative risk of mortality of about 1 per cent in the exposed population". High levels of NO2 could exacerbate pre-existing chest/lung problems and VOCs were known to be carcinogenic.
Until now, most exposure of population to poor air quality containing those substances had been in the suburbs, but Mr McManus warned that with the large increase in the city-centre population brought about by urban rejuvenation, "apartment blocks now being constructed are located in heavily-trafficked areas and some are even located side-by-side with public multi-storey car parks."
The report notes also that nitrogen oxides and VOCs are precursors of ozone and that reductions in emissions of both will have to be greater to reduce ozone levels.
In another warning on the dangers of PM10, Mr McManus writes that "the cost of damage to health and the environment in the Dublin region due to PM10 is tentatively estimated per year at anything from ECU 1.16 million to ECU 23.6 million" (i.e., £1 million to £20 million).
Speaking later to The Irish Times, Mr McManus was critical of attempts to alter the main components of the Dublin Transport Initiative's plans for alleviating traffic congestion in the city, such as not proceeding with the Luas project.
"The framework [the Dublin Transport Initiative] is in place. We are working [in the corporation] in this context. The reality is that the DTI is an overall strategic policy - if you take any one element out it has implications for the rest of the policy."
Welcoming the report, Mr John Gormley TD (Green Party), who had originally proposed the motion at the city council requesting it, said it indicated that the city "has a very serious problem, and that we need to act urgently and quickly" on it.