Case study: environmental problems

SUPPORTING THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE

Water pollution has a significant negative impact on human health and the environment. Increasing demand from citizens and environmental organisations for cleaner rivers and lakes, groundwater and coastal beaches has led the European Commission to make water protection one of its priorities. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) was established to protect and improve water quality and prevent further deterioration through legal limits on a wide range of known pollutants.

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PROTECTING EUROPE’S WATER RESOURCES

Water pollution has a significant negative impact on human health and the environment. Increasing demand from citizens and environmental organisations for cleaner rivers and lakes, groundwater and coastal beaches has led the European Commission to make water protection one of its priorities. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) was established to protect and improve water quality and prevent further deterioration through legal limits on a wide range of known pollutants.
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IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF INDOOR AIR

Air pollution is harmful to public health, damages biodiversity and contributes to climate change. The EU has developed legislation to improve health and environmental quality. However, while significant progress has been made in improving outdoor air quality, indoor pollutants have received less attention. Given that many people spend the majority of their time indoors, research is urgently needed to enable the regulation, assessment and improvement of indoor air quality.

ACCURATELY MONITORING TRACE POLLUTANTS

Man-made and naturally occurring volatile organic compounds, such as methanol or acetone, affect air quality and the climate by the formation of ozone and aerosols. The World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmosphere Watch monitoring network tracks these trace compounds and aerosols to increase our understanding of climate trends and the success of mitigation strategies. Improving the accuracy of networks monitoring data requires improved links between lab-based calibrations and networked instruments.