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VOICE-OVER: Poor air quality is a threat to our health and well-being.
The main sources of air pollution are traffic, industry and livestock farming.
RIVM monitors air quality in the Netherlands
and advises the government authorities.
This is a complex process.
The strength of RIVM is that it covers the entire chain.
KEES VAN LUIJK: RIVM is the national institute for environmental monitoring.
We do air quality measurements
but we also have a model with traffic and industry, all the emission sources,
and the model calculates the air quality.
So we can compare the measurements with calculations
and together we can give advice to the government
about air quality and improving air quality.
VOICE-OVER: RIVM researches the impact that air pollution has on people,
because that impact is significant.
Long-term exposure to fine particulates in the atmosphere
can aggravate various cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Efforts to improve air quality
are set out in the National Air Quality Cooperation Programme, or NSL.
RIVM monitors air quality, using the national Air Quality Monitoring Network.
Sixty permanent monitoring stations
register the concentrations of certain substances in the atmosphere.
RIVM also uses this data as input for models.
One notable monitoring station is the site of the 213 metre tall Cabauw mast,
which was erected by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
Instruments are mounted at various heights to monitor variables
such as particulates, nitrogen oxides and wind speed.
RIVM also has mobile monitoring equipment,
seen here close to the industrial centre of Pernis, near Rotterdam.
Lasers are used to scan for sulphur dioxide emissions
in and around the plumes of smoke.
The equipment systematically zooms in on predetermined segments of the atmosphere.
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MARGREET VAN ZANTEN: Well, many people know
that air pollution can be harmful for people
but air pollution can be harmful for nature as well,
because in the air we have all kinds of compounds
that have nitrogen in them
and if this nitrogen is deposited on the ground, it acts as a kind of fertiliser.
And this fertilisation of nature leads to a depleted ecosystem.
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VOICE-OVER: International measures have been agreed to limit damage to ecosystems.
The National Acidification Trend Monitoring Network
helps to monitor the long-term effects of those measures.
Groundwater sampling is a reliable method that is used for this purpose.
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The Ammonia in Nature Areas monitoring network
records ammonia concentrations in the air.
Small glass tubes fitted with a filter are sent to RIVM.
With samples taken at 236 sites nationwide, a reliable impression is obtained
of ammonia concentrations in nature areas throughout the country.
European policy on nitrogen compounds has been implemented in the Netherlands
in the programmatic action plan for nitrogen.
The main role of RIVM in this programmatic approach is to monitor
whether nitrogen deposition in those nature areas is decreasing.
VOICE-OVER: Air pollution is not restricted by national boundaries.
International policy is therefore essential.
VAN LUIJK: Air quality is an international issue.
Air pollution is crossing borders.
We have a lot of contact with our colleagues in other countries,
so that we meet the same requirements for measurements and calculations
and we have the same advice for governments
and international air quality policy.
VOICE-OVER: The quality of the Netherlands' air, soil and water
is steadily improving.
Through its independent research and its advisory role,
RIVM is making a significant contribution to a better, cleaner environment.
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