What is air quality

Air quality is a term used to describe how polluted the level of air is that we breathe. Clean air is a requirement of a healthy environment. Air can be polluted in many ways and as a result be hazardous to people, having major issues on health. It can be a major public health risk. Air quality can differ depending on areas and the types of emissions being discharged in that locality.

When air quality is poor, pollutants in the air may be hazardous to people, particularly those with lung or heart conditions.

Sources of pollution

What are the pollutants and health effects?

What we do to improve air quality – Knowsley’s Air Quality Strategy

There is now a statutory requirement for all local authorities to have an Air Quality Strategy (AQS). The aim of the strategy is to support the achievement of how the council will undertake its air quality responsibilities and how it will work both across internal departments and other relevant external partners. This is important to ensure that air quality is considered as part of all relevant decisions and policies across the council. The 4 council priorities are:

• Supporting the reduction of domestic, commercial, and industrial emissions
• Supporting the reduction of emissions from transport
• Raise public awareness of air quality and encourage behaviour changes
• Supporting improvements to indoor air quality

The Knowsley Air Quality Strategy