On Tuesday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 2, air quality will be poor in North Brabant and parts of Central Netherlands. People sensitive to smog may experience issues. The RIVM advises them to stay indoors and limit heavy physical exertion. This advice applies especially in the afternoon and early evening when the air is most polluted.
Smog due to ozone can lead to an increase in respiratory complaints, such as coughing and shortness of breath, exacerbation of asthma symptoms, and decreased lung function. Irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat can also occur. People with respiratory conditions, children, and the elderly are relatively often sensitive to smog. Contact your doctor or the GGD Municipal Health Service (Municipal Health Service) if you have complaints.
Ozone forecast for the coming days
On Tuesday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 2, the amount of ozone in the air will increase, which can locally lead to smog in the central and southern Netherlands. In the northern and southwestern Netherlands, ozone concentrations are lower. From Thursday onwards, ozone concentrations will decrease and the chance of smog will disappear.
Smog due to ozone
Smog due to ozone occurs when air pollution accumulates on sunny days. This happens in spring and summer when there is little (mostly southeastern) wind. Pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, are converted into ozone under the influence of sunlight. This is also known as summer smog. In other seasons, the suns intensity is too low to create high ozone concentrations.
European information and alarm thresholds for ozone
In Europe, information and alarm thresholds for ozone have been established. The EU European Union (European Union) information threshold is 180 micrograms of ozone per cubic meter of air. In case of (impending) exceedance of this value, people sensitive to smog may experience complaints. The RIVM will then issue a warning. The air quality is then poor according to the Dutch Air Quality Index.
The EU alarm threshold is 240 micrograms of ozone per cubic meter of air (very poor according to the Dutch air quality index). When this value is exceeded, anyone may experience complaints. If this is likely to happen, the RIVM will turn the warning into an alarm.
More information
- Current and expected smog levels can be found at luchtmeetnet.nl (external link) (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) and NOS Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (Dutch Broadcasting Foundation)-Teletext pages 711 (external link) (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window).
- On rivm.nl you can view the maximum hourly and 8-hour concentrations measured by the National Air Quality Monitoring Network in recent days.
- More information about smog can be found at rivm.nl
- Information about lung diseases and air pollution can be found at the Longfonds (external link) (opens in a new window)