oversimplifications routinely made in conventional
monitoring. These changes can form initial steps
toward improving the air pollution monitoring
community’s contribution to sustainability.
Multipollutant Monitoring and Science Health
risks from air pollution are almost exclusively
assessed on a single pollutant basis [100]. Health
risks from, for example, ozone, are assessed separately from health risks from NO x . In reality,
however, people are exposed to many pollutants
at one time. Pollutants can have synergistic effects
that exacerbate health impacts beyond the sum of
the health impacts they would have individually
[100]. Air pollution research and the US EPA are
moving toward multipollutant research and legislation, but available data are inadequate to create
legislative models [100]. To develop the required
data, more and better monitoring, as well as
improved exposure modeling and data processing
are required [100]. The necessary changes will
take time; however, development in this direction
is required for accurate assessment of the health
impacts of air pollution.
Design for Consolidated Sustainability Metrics
Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index
(AQHI) and the US EPA’s Air Quality Index
(AQI) are examples of consolidated metrics.
They incorporate a number of data on different
species of pollutants and atmospheric conditions
and weight the importance of these data in the
calculation of a single summative statistic. These
metrics are useful in that they can quickly communicate a great deal of information in a form
more easily understood by the public than raw
air quality data [78]. Consolidated metrics can
also change behavior in ways that minimize the
impacts of air pollution, as demonstrated by
AQHI-informed decisions to limit personal
exposure [78].
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
is an example of a consolidated metric that can be
used in service of sustainability. The EPI is the a
function of indicators such as urban particulates,
SO x and NO x emissions, water stress, habitat protection, pesticide regulation, agricultural water
intensity, and GHG emission per capita [131]. It
has been applied to rank countries in terms of the
state and treatment of their environment, and it
can help countries define goals and track progress.
It was created in response to a feeling that the
environmental goals of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals were poorly defined
and that progress toward these goals was difficult
to quantify [131]. A remedy to these complaints is
exactly what consolidated metrics and monitoring
designed with these metrics in mind can provide.
How well the EPI can describe a country’s environmental status is limited by the data available
[131]. The EPI can only incorporate data for
which there is already a strong history and temporal trend, making it difficult to represent
recently recognized sustainability issues. Nevertheless, the EPI provides countries with an evaluation as to where they stand relative to their peers,
a method for tracking progress, and a databased
framework to guide decision making.
The discipline of life-cycle assessment (LCA)
contains many examples of consolidated metrics,
similar to the EPI. LCA method and metrics can
be used in attempts to quantify sustainability
[132]. Eco- Indicator 99, for example, quantifies
the impacts of activities and pollutant releases;
translates these impacts into three metrics related
to health, ecosystem damages, and depletion of
resources; and combines these three metrics into a
single indicator [133]. The weighting systems that
allow LCA methods such as these to combine
disparate data into a single number would encourage the quantification of the relative impacts of
various air pollutants. Were that accomplished,
data on different pollutants, pollutants with very
different behavior and effects, could be compared
on the same scale.
Designing air pollution monitoring and monitoring campaigns to serve consolidated sustainability metrics means not only providing data for
metrics like the EPI and Eco-indicator 99, but also
developing novel data sets to strengthen such
metrics. Novel data sets would make it possible
for such a metric to be influenced by sustainability
issues for which sufficient data do not yet exist.
Collecting data so that loss of resilience, for example, could be incorporated into a metric like the
EPI would encourage nations to take action on
414
Air Pollution Monitoring and Sustainability
monitoring. These changes can form initial steps
toward improving the air pollution monitoring
community’s contribution to sustainability.
Multipollutant Monitoring and Science Health
risks from air pollution are almost exclusively
assessed on a single pollutant basis [100]. Health
risks from, for example, ozone, are assessed separately from health risks from NO x . In reality,
however, people are exposed to many pollutants
at one time. Pollutants can have synergistic effects
that exacerbate health impacts beyond the sum of
the health impacts they would have individually
[100]. Air pollution research and the US EPA are
moving toward multipollutant research and legislation, but available data are inadequate to create
legislative models [100]. To develop the required
data, more and better monitoring, as well as
improved exposure modeling and data processing
are required [100]. The necessary changes will
take time; however, development in this direction
is required for accurate assessment of the health
impacts of air pollution.
Design for Consolidated Sustainability Metrics
Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index
(AQHI) and the US EPA’s Air Quality Index
(AQI) are examples of consolidated metrics.
They incorporate a number of data on different
species of pollutants and atmospheric conditions
and weight the importance of these data in the
calculation of a single summative statistic. These
metrics are useful in that they can quickly communicate a great deal of information in a form
more easily understood by the public than raw
air quality data [78]. Consolidated metrics can
also change behavior in ways that minimize the
impacts of air pollution, as demonstrated by
AQHI-informed decisions to limit personal
exposure [78].
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
is an example of a consolidated metric that can be
used in service of sustainability. The EPI is the a
function of indicators such as urban particulates,
SO x and NO x emissions, water stress, habitat protection, pesticide regulation, agricultural water
intensity, and GHG emission per capita [131]. It
has been applied to rank countries in terms of the
state and treatment of their environment, and it
can help countries define goals and track progress.
It was created in response to a feeling that the
environmental goals of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals were poorly defined
and that progress toward these goals was difficult
to quantify [131]. A remedy to these complaints is
exactly what consolidated metrics and monitoring
designed with these metrics in mind can provide.
How well the EPI can describe a country’s environmental status is limited by the data available
[131]. The EPI can only incorporate data for
which there is already a strong history and temporal trend, making it difficult to represent
recently recognized sustainability issues. Nevertheless, the EPI provides countries with an evaluation as to where they stand relative to their peers,
a method for tracking progress, and a databased
framework to guide decision making.
The discipline of life-cycle assessment (LCA)
contains many examples of consolidated metrics,
similar to the EPI. LCA method and metrics can
be used in attempts to quantify sustainability
[132]. Eco- Indicator 99, for example, quantifies
the impacts of activities and pollutant releases;
translates these impacts into three metrics related
to health, ecosystem damages, and depletion of
resources; and combines these three metrics into a
single indicator [133]. The weighting systems that
allow LCA methods such as these to combine
disparate data into a single number would encourage the quantification of the relative impacts of
various air pollutants. Were that accomplished,
data on different pollutants, pollutants with very
different behavior and effects, could be compared
on the same scale.
Designing air pollution monitoring and monitoring campaigns to serve consolidated sustainability metrics means not only providing data for
metrics like the EPI and Eco-indicator 99, but also
developing novel data sets to strengthen such
metrics. Novel data sets would make it possible
for such a metric to be influenced by sustainability
issues for which sufficient data do not yet exist.
Collecting data so that loss of resilience, for example, could be incorporated into a metric like the
EPI would encourage nations to take action on
414
Air Pollution Monitoring and Sustainability