Report

Air quality in Drenthe

The Dutch province of Drenthe has a Provincial Air Quality Action Plan in place  that runs to the end of 2012. For the following period the underlying information has now been updated. 

Drenthe has no air quality problems to speak of and does not therefore participate in the National Cooperative Air Quality Programme. (The same holds for the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Zeeland.) In Drenthe the background concentrations of both NO2 and PM10 for the years 2010, 2015 and 2020 are only around half the annual mean limit of 40 μg/m3.  It may therefore be concluded that the air quality limits are not presently being exceeded along roads (both primary and secondary), nor will they do so in the foreseeable future. 

In the 2006 Background Document it was concluded that nowhere in Drenthe does industrial activity lead to standards exceedance. New information and understanding provide no grounds for altering that conclusion. 

In the old peat extraction areas in the province soils have dried out, becoming susceptible to drift because of their sandiness and relatively low organic matter content (humus to bind the sand). However, there are no grounds for presuming that levels of wind-blown soil/dust will become any higher in the future than indicated by current models. 

In the 2009-2012 Air Quality Action Plan the Provincial Executive expressed a desire for further study on the potential regional health impacts of  airborne pesticides. Such a study was carried out based on the current literature, with the following results. There is minimal exposure to airborne pesticides in Drenthe. For the province’s ambition to comply with legislative standards, the provisions currently in place for limiting pesticide risks provide sufficient basis for adequate citizen protection.

In this province there is only limited stench nuisance. While there are several industries that have received extra focus because of stench complaints in the past, in general these industries cause no substantial problems.

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