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Division Background and CEN standardisation work

United Kingdom

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

Directive 1999/30/EC states in Article 5 that “Member States shall ensure that measuring stations to supply data on concentration of PM2.5 are installed and operated. Each Member State shall choose the number and the siting of the stations at which PM2.5 is to be measured as representative of concentrations of PM2.5 within that Member State. Where possible sampling points for PM2.5 shall be co-located with sampling points for PM10.” Article 7 further mentions that “The provisional reference method for the sampling and measurement of PM2.5 shall be laid down in Section V of Annex IX.” Annex IX finally asks for the preparation of a guideline to be developed by the European Commission in consultation with the committee referred to in Article 12 of Directive 96/62/EC.

DG Environment has given a mandate to CEN to develop a standard European reference method for the measurement of PM2.5. This method is based on the gravimetric determination of the PM2.5 fraction of particles in air, sampled at ambient conditions. CEN TC 264/WG 15 started its work in 2000. Field validation campaigns have been carried out in eight European countries, namely Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Greece and have been completed in summer 2003. The final CEN standard method will therefore not be available before 2004.

CEN WG 15 is currently testing various candidate devices based on the gravimetric determination method and equipped with different inlet types from European manufacturers as well as the US Federal Reference sampler:

  • MINI-WRAC, single filter sampler, from Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Aerosol Research (FhG-ITA), Germany

  • US-Federal Reference sampler, single filter sampler: RAAS 2.5-1, from Thermo Andersen, USA Partisol FRM Model 2000, from Rupprecht and Patashnick, USA

  • Partisol plus Model 2025-SCC, sequential sampler, from Rupprecht and Patashnick, USA

  • LVS-3D, single filter sampler, from Derenda, Germany

  • SEQ 47/50, sequential sampler, from Leckel Company, Germany

  • HVS-DHA 80, sequential sampler, from Digitel, Switzerland

In addition, CEN is also testing a number of automated measurement devices, based on the beta ray attenuation method and the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM), to develop test procedures for equivalency with the reference gravimetric method:

  • ADAM, beta ray attenuation, sequential, from OPSIS, Sweden

  • FH 62 I-R, beta ray attenuation, filter tape, from ESM Andersen Company, Germany

  • BAM 1020, beta ray attenuation, filter tape, from Met One, USA

  • TEOM SES, sharp cut cyclone, from Rupprecht and Patashnick, USA