A note on the 2008 EU standards for particulate matter

In the spring of 2008, the EU decided on the future PM regulations. In this note we first compare existing regulations for PM10 with updated regulations for PM10; then we discuss the decisions on PM2.5; and finally we compare the new EU regulations with US EPA standards for PM2.5. The conclusions are that PM10 regulations have been somewhat relaxed despite the fact that the numerical values of the Limit Values have not changed; that the annual PM2.5 Limit Value is at the upper end of exposure response curves from major epidemiological studies, and hence not protective of public health as major adverse effects on health have been observed at levels well below the adopted PM2.5 limit value; that the newly introduced instrument of the ‘exposure concentration obligation’ is unlikely to improve this; that the US EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM2.5 are lower than the EU limit values; and that, contrary to what is often suggested, the EU requirements for assessing compliance with the Limit Value for PM2.5 are not more stringent than the US EPA requirements for assessing compliance with the annual and 24 h PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards.