An overview of experiences made and tools used to inform the public on ambient air quality

Abstract

Legislative regulations on atmospheric pollution have been established in different parts of the world for addressing air quality management. An important public commitment, common among all nations, is to ensure environmental safety and health protection, particularly for the most fragile population groups. Each country has its own rules and practices to provide adequate and timely information on ambient air quality. Information is given either through easily accessible media, including websites and apps, or by traditional means of telecommunication. An air quality index (AQI) is definitely a valuable tool for disseminating data on the main regulated pollutants and represents a readable indicator of the prevailing situation of air quality in the area. Several calculating expressions were formulated to combine, in a unique value, different parameters, and a few methods were created to determine and compare different AQIs. This paper gives almost a global overview of approaches and tools used to inform the public about the status of the ambient air quality. Different AQIs are analyzed to contribute to the sharing of air quality management practices and information to raise public awareness and to help policymakers to act accordingly.