A Q monitoring and reporting

Gjystina Fusha

Agjency Environment and Forestry Albania

Geographic profile

• Republic of Albania is located in Eastern Europe, in western Balkan Peninsula and washed by the Adriatic Sea (sandy shore) and the Ionian Sea (rocky shore)

• The country's geography is mostly mountainous and covers 77% of the territory of the country. Is characterized by mild winters with multiple precipitation and dry hot summers.

Geographic profile• The economy is based on free

initiative where 80% of products coming from the private sector

• The main source of electricity generation is water but actually used only 30% of these resource

• Transport has impact on the quality of the environment and particularly in urban areas increasing significantly the levels of air pollution.

Air Quality Monitoring

• The ambient air quality in Albania has been monitored for many years. The Institute of Public Health (IPH) under the Ministry of Health (MoH) has performed measurements of air pollution since 1976 using manual, semi-automatic sampling and passive sampling combined with chemical analyses. Pollutants measured are SO2, NO2, PM10, lead (active sampling, all on a daily basis) and O3 (passive tubes).

Air Quality Monitoring

• In 1995 an automatic monitoring station was installed at IPH but the monitors have not been in operation since 1997 because of lack of spare parts and calibration service.

• From June to December 2007 IPH was performing air quality monitoring with the StEMA supplied automatic monitoring stations.

Air Quality Monitoring Equipment

• The monitoring system through StEMA included:

• 2 automatic stations PM2.5/10 (gravimetry), SO2, CO, NOx, BTEX, O3

• 1 mobile laboratory PM2.5/10 (gravimetry & ß gauge), SO2, CO, NOx, BTEX, O3

• 4 Particulates samplers PM2.5/10 (gravimetry)

• 4 thick film sensors stations CO, NO2, O3, benzene

• 120 sets of diffusion tubes SO2, NO2, O3, benzene

Automatic stations

• The mobile monitoring station has installed a calibration unit for diluting high concentration calibration gasses. The monitoring stations have a data sampling unit but there is no automatic transfer of data to the responsible institution. Data shall be picked up manually during station visits.

Automatic stations

• Stacioni Mobile

Automatic stations

• One fixed monitoring station was placed in the courtyard of the Directorate for Public Health (DPH) in Tirana and the other fixed monitoring station was placed in the central area of Elbasan.

• In 2008 monitoring was conducted through 2 institutions, IPH and AEF

Automatic stations

Automatic stations

• On year 2010 WHO has financed two automatic monitoring stations situated in the courtyard/garden at the institute – the station can be characterized as an sub-urban background station.

• The other station is placed in the courtyard of the Poliklinika Qendrore, about 100 m from Boulevard George Bush, one of the major streets in Tirana. This station can be characterized as an urban background station.

Automatic stations

Institutional arrangements:

• AEF is responsible for air monitoring in Tirana and Elbasan , data collection from institution responsible for airmonitoring

,national and international reporting• IPH is responsible for air monitoring in

Durresi, Shkodra, Fieri, Vlora and Korcaand is defined as NRL( National Reference

Laboratories) but its function is not runing yet .

Monitoring data quality procedures,

• The monitoring air quality is based in National Environmental Monitoring Program, which is realized by scientific institutions contracted and financed by Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration (Agency of Environment and Forestry; Public Healthy)

• The networks is located in major cities in the country, (Tirana, Elbasan, Durres, Fier, Vlore, Shkoder, Korçe).

• . The following air pollutions are measuring :

CO , SO2, NO2, О3 , PM 10 , PM2.5 Benzene ,

- Reference measurement methods

• EN14212:2005 Ambient air quality - Standard method for the measurement of sulphur dioxide by UV fluorescence

•  

• EN14211:2005 Ambient air quality - Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen monoxide by chemiluminescence

•  

• EN 14902:2005 Reference method for determination of Pb/Cd/As/Ni in ambient air

•  

• EN12341:1999 Air Quality - Determination of the PM10 fraction of suspended particulate matter – Reference method and field test procedure to demonstrate reference equivalence of measurement methods

•  

Reference measurement methods

• EN14907:2005 Standard gravimetric measurement method for the determination of PM2.5 mass fraction of suspended particulate matter in ambient air

•  

• EN14662:2005 parts 1, 2 and 3 Ambient air quality - Reference method for the measurement of benzene concentrations

•  

• EN14626:2005 Ambient air quality - Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of carbon monoxide by non dispersive infrared spectroscopy

•  

• EN14625:2005 Ambient air quality - Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of ozone by UV photometry

Albania legislacion • Law no. 8897, dated 16.05.2002 "On air protection“.

• Law Nr.10266, dated 15.04.2010 "On some amendments to Law no. 8897, dated 16.05.2002 "On air protection".

• Decision no. 803 dated 04.12.2003 "On the air quality standards“.

• Decision no. 435, dated 12.09.2002 "On approval of the emissions rates on air".

• Decision no. 248, dated 24.04.2003 "On approval of temporary of air emissions.“.

• Decision no.147, dated 21.03.2007 "On the quality of fuels, gasoline and diesel"

Data Handlingand Reporting • Download the data Data shall be picked up manually during

station visits.

• Validation .To verify manually whether the data are valid .Errors in the data may occur as a result of power failure, human error, equipment failure etc.

• Data treatment and calculations.

-Calculate daily and annual average

-Converted the datat from ppb in µg/m3

• Air quality reports are prepared annually and six monthly. They include information on daily and yearly average presented in a tabular and graphical manner compared to the relevant limit value according to the Albanian and EU norms for yearly average concentrations..

Problems in air monitoringand equipment

• Lack of calibration system for calibration and control of Span in 2 fix automatic stations.

• Lack of data sampling unit in 2 fix automatic stations

• Very small budget to repair damaged equipment

• Monitoring systems in Albania have not yet implemented quality assurance (QA) procedures.

Problems in air monitoringand equipment

• Lack of database for air monitoring data

• No automatic transfer of data to the responsible institution (AEF)

• There is no cooperation between the two major players concerning air quality monitoring in Albania(IPH and AEF).

• The necessary staff and training in maintenance of equipment and assessment of data output.

Dataflows and reporting - national and international: identification of problems

• National All Air Monitoring Data are published in

“State of Environment Report” (annual report).

International- EEA obligation

CEMSA Project

• The present project for the Consolidation of the Environmental Monitoring System in Albania is undertaken with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission in Albania. The project is aimed at building capacity within the Ministry of Environmental, Forests and Water Administration (MoEFWA), with special emphasis on the National Environmental Agency (NEA), and on the other institutions involved in monitoring activities,

CEMSA Project • The project was initiated on 6 September 2010, with

the kick-off meeting in the EU Delegation (EUD)

• On February 2011 is prepared a draft for zincification of the country

The country is divided into 3 types of zone as follows:

-Large cities: Medium/small citiesBackground zones

Air monitoring station and zones

Air monitoring station and zones

Name Code Type Population in th.

Tirana AL_L_01 large 571

Durres AL_L_02 Large 180

Elbasan AL_L_03 Large 97

Shkodra AL_L_04 Large 81

Fier AL_L_05 Large 61

Korca AL_L_06 Large 50

Vlora AL_L_07 Large 48

Berat, Lushnje, Kavaje, Pogradec, Lac, Gjirokaster, Patos, Saranda,

Kruje, LezheAL_M_01 Medium

42 / 41 / 31 / 24 / 24 / 23 / 23 / 22 / 21 / 20

South region AL_B_01 Eco-geographical na

West region AL_B_02 Eco-geographical na

East region AL_B_03 Eco-geographical na

North East region AL_B_04 Eco-geographical na

Objectives of CEMSA project

• Improvement of the capacity of the monitoring system data processing/storage, supply and management of information through the provision of necessary equipment,

• National legislation in the field of environmental monitoring updated in line with the respective Albanian legislation and EC Directives; 

Objectives of CEMSA project • Installing of Air quality Automatic Monitoring

Stations for monitoring of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, BTEX and

PM10/PM2.5(PM1.0) in Vlora, Korca, Durres and Shkoder

• Installing of Calibration Units for Automatic Monitoring Stations already in place Tirana

• PM10/PM2.5(PM1.0) Atmospheric Particulate Matter Air monitoring Sampler in Tirana

Objectives of CEMSA project

• Sets of Diffusion Tubes for the measurement of SO2, NO2, O3 and Benzene (BTEX) in Tirana

• Noise Meters w. Calibrator and Windshield in Tirana

• 5000 W Generator w. power stabilization and UPS, in static automatic stations of Tirana, Vlore, Korca, Durres and Shkoder

 

Thank you for atention