Galway scientists study the air that we breathe

Galway scientists are leading a new study which will definitively point the finger at the greatest source of air pollution – which could result in a massive transformation in how we heat our homes.

Alarming statistics which have emerged in the past few months are not telling the whole story about Galway’s air quality, believes NUIG researcher Dr Darius Ceburnis.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Galway is one of a dozen cities and towns in Ireland and Britain that breach WHO safety levels for air pollution. Only Longford and Bray had higher levels of ‘particulate matter’ than Galway, which was worse than even Dublin.

The safe limit for Particulate Matter is PM10, but Galway scores PM17, according to WHO. A report out last month by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that approximately 1,200 people die prematurely in Ireland every year as a result of air pollution.

However, these figures do not break down the source of the particulates, explained Darius, who works in NUIG’s physics department.

“When it comes to Galway and specifically the West of Ireland, we are exposed to the Altantic and a lot of sea salt particles. Sea salt is benign, once it gets into humans it dissolves, so while it might make up the mass of particulates it’s not a polluting one so the figures are misleading.”

The study found that the worst for producing particulates or pollution is wood, the next worst is peat – regardless if it was sods or briquettes and the third worst was coal.

Second to natural gas – and best for air quality – was electric heating – and this was better for the environment if it was generated by renewables. Oil was the third least polluting – albeit it ten times worse than gas.

“This information is important for people who care about the environment when choosing what kind of fuel they should choose for their homes,” the scientist states.

For more on the study, see this week’s Galway City Tribune