Coronavirus restrictions have improved the air quality in some of Dublin and Cork’s worst traffic blackspots, new research reveals.
Thousands of cars have been taken off the roads in recent weeks as people work from home amid the Government lockdown banning non-essential travel.
The move saw traffic on Dublin’s M50 – the nation’s busiest motorway – drop by 30% last week, according to Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
Now research by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that levels of nitrogen oxide – the main pollutant in air – are lower in some of its national monitoring stations than this time last year.
Stations in Blanchardstown, Wood Quay in Dublin 8 and Cork South Link Road have all seen falls in levels between February and March of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
THE EPA said in a statement: “Nitrogen dioxide is the pollutant of interest from traffic and we know reduced traffic congestion should decrease the levels of this pollutant.”
However, the government body warned not to read too much into the drop at this early stage after the same study showed increases of the nasty chemical compound in Ringsend, Ballyfermot and Dun Laoghaire.
And there has been little or no change at several other stations around Ireland.
The Agency added: “Where there were increases/decreases, the variations were within 20% of baseline levels.
“This level of variation is not uncommon for weather-related factors.”
