GROUND-LEVEL ozone pollution in Ireland has exceeded EU thresholds for the protection of human health, according to a report published by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The highest readings were recorded during exceptionally hot weather in the summer of 1995 when temperatures exceeded 25 Celsius and calm, anti-cyclonic conditions prevailed.
"In these conditions, pollutants from the UK and mainland Europe, such as nitrogen dioxides and hydrocarbons, move over the country", the EPA said, adding that this situation "does not often occur in Ireland".
The report acknowledges that volatile organic compounds, mainly produced by traffic, are also implicated in the ozone problem. In Dublin, heavy traffic has been blamed for pushing nitrogen dioxide levels over the EU limit.
The threshold for the protection of human health from ozone pollution was exceeded on 35 days at six stations set up to monitor ground-level ozone, with the highest concentrations recorded at Glashaboy, in Cork city.
"Overall, the maximum levels measured during the summer of 1995 from the six stations were the highest ever recorded in Ireland. However, these are not very high when compared to ozone in the worst-affected part of Europe."
The monitoring stations are located at Kilkitt, Co Monaghan; Pottery Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin; Glashaboy, Cork; Kilkenny city, Avondale, Co Wicklow; and Macehead, Co Galway.
Meanwhile, officials from 100 countries are meeting this week in San Jose, Costa Rica, to discuss how to finance efforts by developing countries to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are attacking the stratospheric ozone layer.
At this level, ozone protects people against the most harmful effects of the sun's rays. Over the past 15 years, however, a number of major "holes" were discovered in the ozone layer, leading to the adoption of measures to ban CFCs. These were agreed in the 1990 Montreal Protocol.
