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About air quality

This page gives a brief introduction to the information available about air quality. For further specialist information on pollutants and their impacts on habitats and species, please refer to the UK Air Pollution Information System (APIS) (new window).

Associated Pollutants
These pages provide a list of all the commonly measured ground-level air pollutants, where and how they are formed, and the possible effects on health, ecosystems and materials.

Impacts of pollution
Here we provide an overview of the impacts which air pollution can have at local, regional and global scales.

Monitoring methods
This section of the web site looks at how air pollution can be monitored using a range of sophistocated (but expensive) automatic monitors, or simpler, cheaper (but less accurate) techniques. It also reviews how the different types of monitoring location (Roadside, Urban Background, Rural, etc.) are defined.

Policy
Information on the latest trends and maps of air quality are provided here, together with links to the latest Government Policy and Guidance documents.

Health advice
Information issued by Defra to help you make decisions to protect your health.