Improving Air Quality in the United Kingdom - The Solvents Contribution

Ground level ozone is formed by the atmospheric chemical reactions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight and water vapour during summertime on the European scale. Ozone is one of the most important secondary air pollutants which crosses international boundaries and its concentrations may be predicted with air quality models, which describe the chemistry occurring in air parcels moving with the windfield. The strength of the UK Photochemical Trajectory Model lies in its detailed chemistry, which we have applied to demonstrate how ozone levels have improved in the United Kingdom from 1980 to the present day, and quantified the contribution that the solvents business sector has made to this improvement. Our study also shows that future reductions of 30% from solvents will lead to substantial improvements in peak concentrations of ozone in VOC-limited regions of the United Kingdom.