OZONE READINGS

DATA SOURCE: Ambient Air Quality: Scores of Ozone concentrations at background and
roadside locations, 2003 (January-December). The geography used is the middle layer super
output areas, which have been mapped to the locations of airports. The data supplier is
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the data was taken from
National Statistics.

The dataset used provides scores of ozone concentrations for 2003 at background locations
in the UK. The data are collected by Netcen on behalf of Defra and the Devolved
Administrations.

Exposure to high concentrations of ozone may cause a slight irritation to the eyes and nose. If
very high levels of exposure (1,000-2,000µg/m3) are experienced over several hours,
damage to the airway lining followed by inflammatory reactions may occur.

Of 33 airports in England and Wales, all but two (Sheffield City and London Heathrow) have
ozone levels which exceed the Air Quality Strategy’s objective of having no greater than 10
days with running 8-hour mean ozone concentrations greater than 100 µg/mз. The scores
reported in this dataset are calculated from a modelled annual mean concentration (an
average over the whole year) in micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3).

The table below gives ozone readings for airports in England and Wales. The second table
explains the scores given in table 1. An airport with an ozone reading of 13, for example, has
ozone levels above the EU target of 100 µg/mз on 30 – 32.5 days of the year.

Airport ozone
Lydd Airport 13
Isle of Wight (Sandown) Airport 12
London Biggin Hill Airport 11
Shoreham Airport 11
London Luton Airport 10
London Southend Airport 10
Stansted Airport 10
Manston Airport 10
Plymouth City Airport 10
Newquay (Cornwall) Airport 10
Exeter Airport 10
Bournemouth International Airport 10
Cambridge Airport 9
London City Airport 9
Bristol International Airport 9
Land's End Airport 9
St. Mary's Airport 9
Cardiff International Airport 9
Norwich Airport 8
Southampton International Airport 8
Gatwick (London) Airport 8
Gloucestershire Airport 8
East Midlands International Airport 7
Ipswich Airport 7
Liverpool Airport 6
Blackpool Airport 6
Leeds Bradford International Airport 6
Humberside International Airport 6
Birmingham International Airport 6
Newcastle International Airport 5
Teesside International Airport 5
Manchester Airport 5
Sheffield City Airport 4
London Heathrow Airport 3

% of Air Quality Strategy number of days with ozone

Score objective of 10 days above concentrations above 100
100 µg/mз µg/mз
1 0-25 0-2.5
2 25-50 2.5-5
3 50-75 5-7.5
4 75-100 7.5-10
5 100-125 10-12.5
6 125-150 12.5-15
7 150-175 15-17.5
8 175-200 17.5-20
9 200-225 20-22.5
10 225-250 22.5-25
11 250-275 25-27.5
12 275-300 27.5-30
13 300-325 30-32.5