Air pollution responsible for over 1,500 premature deaths in Ireland each year

1 Oct 2018

Monitoring stations have successfully been installed on UCC North Mall campus after calls from researchers for extra stringent monitoring the severity levels for air pollution within Cork City. The new facility is one of the most advanced and best equipped centres of its kind in the country.

Air pollution is quoted to have been responsible for the premature deaths of over 1,650 people in Ireland each year. It is suggested by the University's researchers hosting the project that early warning detection systems are vital in order to prevent deaths of this magnitude occurring year after year. 

Professor Andy Ruth of UCC's Environmental Research Institute (ERI) stated that early warning information about air quality could be life saving in the long haul. The internal investment within the centre has meant that the facility now has the capacity to collaborate its services alongside Met Eireann. UCC as an institution will play a pivotal role in maintaining the upkeep of the facility being on its premises. The health of the atmosphere was something we could not take for granted, in accordance to Professor John Sodeall, director of the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry.