43 - Air Quality Guidelines and Standards

Abstract

Air quality guidelines and standards have an important role to play in the management of air quality. Such standards are generally established and enforced by regulatory agencies in national governments. It is generally accepted that an air quality standard is a description of a level of air quality or air pollution, which is adopted by a regulatory authority as enforceable. At its simplest, an air quality standard should be defined in terms of one or more concentrations and associated averaging times. In addition, information on the form of exposure and monitoring, which are relevant in assessing compliance with the standard, methods of data analysis and quality assurance and quality control requirements, should be added. Air quality standards are also important in informing the public about air quality. Used in this way they are a double-edged weapon as the public may assume that once a standard is exceeded, adverse effects on health will occur. This may not be the case. If standards are set at levels below the guidelines, then it is even less likely that adverse effects will follow small exceedances.