National Statistics

Emissions of air pollutants

An annual publication covering the emissions of some important air pollutants.

Published 18 December 2012
Last updated 15 February 2018 — see all updates

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Documents

Emissions of air pollutants in the UK, 1970 to 2016

PDF, 439KB, 15 pages

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Trends in UK sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia and particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) emissions

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Details

This publication covers UK emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia and particulate matter.

Air pollution poses the biggest environmental threat to public health. Short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollution can cause a range of effects including exacerbation of asthma, effects on lung function, increases in hospital admissions and mortality. Epidemiological studies have shown that long-term exposure reduces life-expectancy, mainly due to increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory causes and from lung cancer. It is a particular threat to vulnerable groups, including the elderly, to the very young, and to those with existing health issues, like respiratory problems.

The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory contains information on emissions and methodology for a wide range of air pollutants; as well as hosting a number of reports including the Devolved Administrations’ Air Quality Pollutant Inventories.

The estimation methodology is regularly developed to take account of new emission factors and modelling methods. This means the whole time series is revised annually. The figures given in this document and the supporting dataset show the revised estimates.

The dataset associated with this publication can also be found here

Defra statistics: environment

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Published 18 December 2012
Last updated 15 February 2018 + show all updates

1. 15 February 2018 Annual update.
2. 21 December 2016 Annual update to publication.
3. 17 December 2015 Annual update figures published 1970 to 2014
4. 18 December 2014 Latest statistical release 1970 to 2013.
5. 18 December 2013 Figures for 2012 published
6. 1 August 2013 added note on Devolved Administrations inventory release is September.
7. 18 December 2012 First published.