General overview of air quality legislation (Global recap 2023)

• « Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in Europe » according to the European Environment Agency. To face this issue, legislation is quickly evolving. We bring you a summary of some of the most recent related national and international legislation and commitments, and what they entail.

• The last few years have been marked by major challenges (environmental, health, and political instability...). That is perhaps why 2023 is expected to be a year full of expectations and resolutions, as well as a turning point for big national and international legislative projects. Among the most addressed areas is air pollution, one of the major concerns of about 90% of Europeans.

  Indoor Air Quality, the cause to defend

  While outdoor air has been a longer-standing concern, indoor air quality —which may have an even greater impact on health— hadn't raised alarm bells until recent years.

  Good indoor air quality is crucial, as we spend about 90% of our time indoors (at home, at work or school, in transport…), where the air can be up to 8 times more polluted than outside. This figure is even higher for particularly vulnerable people, such as young children and the elderly. According to WHO limits, almost the entire world's population (99%) breathes polluted air, resulting in 3.2 million premature deaths due to poor indoor air quality alone.

  The consequences of indoor air laden with harmful emissions can be dire: from eye, nose, or throat irritation and headaches to nausea, fatigue, sleep, and concentration problems, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, asthma, allergies, or even cancer…

  « It is a major cause of adverse health effects: for instance, air pollution causes and aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Heart disease and stroke are the most common causes of premature deaths attributable to air pollution, followed by lung diseases and lung cancer » according to the European Environment Agency.

  Identifying and preventing sources of emissions is therefore the first key step in reducing the presence of pollutants in the air, and that is precisely what some of these regulations attempt to do.

  Regulations on air quality: comprehensive overview 2023

  Air pollution concerns all of us. To help you keep up to date with developments in this area, we bring you a summary of some of the most recent (and forthcoming) related national and international legislation and commitments, and what they entail:

   

  INTERNATIONAL
  

  • One of the world's main models for air quality standardization is provided by the WHO. The Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) evidences air pollution’s damage to human health and lists concentration limit values for volatile substances. Last updated in 2021, numerous national regulations rely on them.

  • In 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published the "First Global Assessment of Air Pollution Legislation". This comprehensive report delves into outdoor and indoor Air Quality Legislation of 194 countries —and the European Union. Since findings concluded a serious lack of international legislation, member states were encouraged and supported to tighten and implement new legal frameworks. Although of no legislative value, it has possibly partly driven some of the following points.

  For more details on the Global Assessment of Air Pollution Legislation, check this article).

  EUROPE

  Mainly motivated by the European Green Deal, the EU has numerous legislative measures on air pollution and related issues. The most recent and imminent adoptions are:

  • The Zero pollution action plan (adopted on May 2021) aims to reduce air, water, and soil pollution to harmless levels —including reducing premature deaths caused by air pollution by 55% by 2030—; a tightening of pollution limits was proposed last October.
  • The 2021 "Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives", which regulate Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) as well, are currently being reviewed and reinforced. The final document is expected during 2023 and will seek to align with the new WHO standard. Some of the introduced key measures will be:
    - Stricter limit values for pollution.
    - More effective penalties and compensation possibilities for violating air quality rules.
    - Strengthened rules for air quality monitoring.
    - Better public information.
  • The European Comission’s legislative proposal on substantiating green claims, commonly known as the "Greenwashing ban", is not directly related to the air; however, it will impose strict restrictions and endorsements on claims and labels (such as product indoor emission's). We tell you all about it in this article.In the same line of work, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) —in force since December 2022— will require large companies to publish regular reports on the social and environmental impacts of their activities, air emissions included.

  FRANCE

  France has been one of the pioneering countries in the European Union in terms of indoor air quality. Current legislation:

  • The PNSE is a quadrennial national plan that prevents health risks linked to the environment (such as indoor air quality, exposure to certain chemicals, noise, etc.) since 2004. As the PNSE4 was launched in 2021, its regional counterparts (PRSE) are being developed and will regulate health-environmental priorities in each region of France (Improving indoor air quality in sensitive public buildings is one of the main ones).
  • The "Environmental Code" (Code de l’environnement) has imposed the obligation to monitor indoor air quality in establishments receiving a sensitive public (particularly children). This is the case since 1 January 2018 for nursery and elementary schools, 1 January 2020 for leisure centers and secondary schools, and 1 January 2023 for the rest of the establishments receiving young children. Several decrees and amendments have been made to outline the details of these monitoring parameters, the latest dating back to last December.

  • The "Climate and Resilience Law’s" measures (Loi climat et résilience) are being progressively implemented since its entry into force in August 2021. It includes, among others:
    1. The introduction of low-emission mobility zones in large cities by 31 December 2024 (Article 27)
    2. An assessment of indoor air quality and home's air renewal capacity as a part of the energy performance diagnosis of buildings (Article 39)

  BELGIUM

  The control of indoor air in Belgium is specifically covered by various regulations.

  • The recent "Law on Indoor Air Quality" came into force last month (December 2022) and looks for the improvement of indoor air quality in shared closed places. It will introduce indoor air quality monitoring, limit values, and certification.

  SPAIN

  Like many other countries, Spain has in recent months introduced measures to combat the energy crisis and promote indoor well-being.

  • The "Environmental Sustainability Measures Plan" (Plan de Medidas de Sostenibilidad Medioambiental) came into force in the summer 2022, imposing among others actions to improve indoor air quality —such as IAQ monitoring, ventilation systems or the use of low-emission products in maintenance and renovation works.

  GERMANY

  The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) has been caring for a healthy environment with clean air and water for German citizens since 1974.

  • UBA’s Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (IRK) covers indoor air hygiene questions —focus areas being chemical cleaning agents and disinfectants, harmful emissions in dwellings from building and lifestyle products, etc.—.
    The Committee on Indoor Air Guide Values (AIR) establishes the maximum permitted concentration of potentially hazardous volatile substances. These values lists are constantly expanding; current guidelines were updated 3 times in 2022.

  UNITED STATES

  Air quality imposed measures vary within the United States. After containment measures against COVID-19, the White House has has prioritised to improve indoor air quality (IAQ).

  • The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge (launched in March 2022) is a national initiative setting guiding principles and best practices to reduce the impact of poor IAQ on health. Measures for citizens are (currently) only recommended, but mandatory within federal buildings.

•  

  Although IAQ regulation in most nations still lacks a firm legislative basis, and product emissions assessment remains voluntary, there are more and more regulations coming in these and other countries.

  To overcome this gap, the international certification institute Air Label Score aims to prevent indoor air pollution and protect the consumer by guaranteeing the best information on product emissions. Air Label Score has the biggest database in the world in terms of limit values incorporating existing indoor air quality regulations.

• If you want to know more about future air quality-related regulations, do not hesitate to contact us.

   

  Sources: Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024, Zero Pollution: Air quality and call for stronger action (2022), Natéosanté (Article 2022), WHO data  (4 April 2022), First Global Assessment of Air Pollution Legislation (2021), WHO Key facts - Household air pollution, Zero pollution action plan (2022), Eurovent GEN - 1227.00, Revision of the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (2022), Air quality - revision of EU rules (2022), Initiative on substantiating green claims (2020), Corporate sustainability reporting (2022), Airparif - La réglementation en France, Loi Climat et Résilience (Avril 2021), SPF Bien-être au travail (Article 2019), Wallonie - Décret relatif à la qualité de l'air intérieur (2019), FPS Public Health Legal framework regarding indoor air quality (2022), Eseficiencia (Article 2022), Plan de Medidas de Sostenibilidad Medioambiental (26 April 2022), Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (2022), German Committee on Indoor Air Guide Values (2022), The White House Fact Sheet (December 8, 2022), EEA web report - Health impacts of air pollution in Europe (2022), Ministère de la Transition Écologique - Qualité de l’air intérieur, Forum santé environnement (2022)