Under consideration PE2123: Update air quality standards in Scotland to align with 2021 World Health Organisation guidelines.

Background information

The Scottish Government’s vision is for Scotland to have the best air quality in Europe. Progress has been made to meet the legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with 2022 being the first year, excluding lockdown years, Scotland has not breached the limits. Local authority reports in 2023 showed all automatic monitoring sites recorded NO2 and PM2.5 under the limits of 40 µg/m³ and 10 µg/m³ – the legal limits enacted in the Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2010, based on the 2005 World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines.

In 2021, WHO produced updated air quality guidelines, which halved the previously recommended limits. Using the 2023 local authority annual reports, Asthma + Lung UK Scotland found that only 60 of the 85 automatic monitoring sites would meet the new 2021 guidelines for NO2 and 35 of the 82 monitoring sites would meet the guidelines for PM2.5.