Air quality in Dublin

Is Dublin a polluted city?

Dublin is the capital city of Ireland, located on the east coast of the country. It is the largest city in Ireland, with over half a million people living in the city limits, and far more extending out into the metropolitan areas. It is a city with a long history of the arts, education and industry being an integral part of its culture.With a rapidly growing population, many of whom are comprised of non-Irish citizens moving there to study or work, there would be an associated rise in pollution due to anthropogenic (human related) activities.

In 2019 Dublin came in with a PM2.5 reading of 10.6 μg/m³, a number that placed it into the ‘good’ ratings bracket, which requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 10 to 12 μg/m³ to be classified as such, making it a very fine margin of entry, and not far from the World Health Organizations (WHO) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or below, for the best quality of air, with closer to 0 of course being the most optimal.

This reading of 10.6 μg/m³ placed Dublin into 2357^th place out of all cities ranked worldwide, which whilst it is a respectable rating, also came in at 1^st place out of all cities ranked in Ireland, making it the most polluted city in the country, largely due to it sizeable population as well as various industries and other pollution causing activities.

So, whilst it came in with a good rating of air quality, it still stands that Dublin could improve its pollution issues, with a few pertinent problems in sight for its citizens, particularly those that are at risk, such as the young, elderly, immunocompromised or expectant mothers, with the last two being particularly vulnerable.

What are the main causes of pollution in Dublin?

Causes of pollution in Dublin come from multiple sources, as well as being compounded by other factors such as meteorological conditions, with periods of low winds coupled with cold weather all playing their part in setting off the correct circumstances for pollution to accumulate.

One of the main causes that Dublin would see contributing to its overall pollution levels would be fumes and emissions coming from vehicles, with large amounts of personal automobiles such as cars and motorbikes inhabiting the roads, causing the levels of PM2.5 and other pollutants to skyrocket during certain periods of the day, particularly during rush hour or in any area that sees a high volume of traffic. There is also the issue of heavy duty vehicles such as trucks, lorries and buses giving off their own pollutants, with many of them running on diesel which can release further pollutants related to the combustion of fossil fuels.

Other sources of pollution include the burning of materials such as wood or coal for household use, a pollutive issue that is prominent across the country and not just Dublin. Others would be emissions from factories or similar industrial areas, all coming together to raise Dublin's yearly PM2.5 average.

When is Dublin at its most polluted?

Observing the data taken over 2019 again, the months that came in with the more prominent levels of pollution showed a distinct pattern, actually correlating perfectly with every city registered in Ireland. Going off the numbers, air quality starts to have a distinct decline during the end of the year (with the exception of an abnormally high reading of PM2.5 in July).

August through to September all came in with very clean ratings of air, but showed higher readings as the months progressed. There was a distinct jump in the last two months of the year, showing that contaminants in the air would be higher around this period.

This continued on for the earlier portions of the year, with the two most polluted months of the year being February and April, with PM2.5 readings of 14.4 μg/m³ and 23.6 μg/m³ respectively, making Aprils level of pollution the worst out of the entire year of 2019, coming in with a ‘moderate’ air pollution rating, albeit on the higher side (with moderate ratings requiring readings of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³).

What are the main pollutants found in the air in Dublin?

With much of its pollution stemming from sources such as the burning of organic material such as wood, or even in some cases peat, as well as that of vehicular and industrial emissions, the pollutants in the air would have the corresponding chemical compounds and particulate matters that often match with the combustion of such materials.

Prominent ones emanating from cars would be nitrogen dioxide (NO­₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), with nitrogen dioxide being the largest offender, often found in high concentrations in the air or near ground level in any area that sees a high volume of traffic, so much so to the point that high levels of it can be used to get a fairly accurate gauge of how much pollution is being caused by vehicles alone.

Other pollutants would be ones such as black carbon and volatile organic compounds (VOC's), which include chemicals like benzene, toluene, xylene and formaldehyde, all of which are highly hazardous to human health and extremely easy to respire, due to their ‘volatile’ nature making them into a gaseous state at a far lower temperature. Others would include carbon monoxide (CO) and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury, released from combustion of fossil fuels, biomass as well as from construction sites and factories.

When is Dublin's air cleanest?

Once again observing the data taken over 2019, the months that came in with the best readings of PM2.5 were between August and October, although there was a gradual worsening of PM2.5 levels as each month progressed. This made August as the cleanest month out of the entire year, with a reading of 4.9 μg/m³, a very respectable reading that indicates a great quality of air, free of the many dangerous contaminants that would permeate the atmosphere during the more polluted months of the year. It also fell well within the WHO's target of less than 10 μg/m³, a target that if extended to the other months of the year through pollution removing initiatives could certainly improve Dublin and the whole of Irelands yearly pollution averages, and improve the air quality rating.