German Environment Agency (UBA ) has further developed its Air Quality Index (AQI) together with experts from IVU Umwelt and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. The goal is to place greater emphasis on health risks when assessing air quality in Germany and to incorporate the current guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO ) and the EU Air Quality Directive into the assessment.
Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency, explains, “Clean air is essential for a healthy life. The new UBA Air Quality Index reflects this connection even more clearly by showing how air pollutants, even at low concentrations, can affect our health. Therefore, air quality is now assessed more strictly than before, in keeping with the precautionary principle.”
At the core of the revised AQI is a risk-based assessment approach that makes the health impacts of different air pollutants comparable. All pollutants will now be assessed using a single scale. A given increase in the concentration of an air pollutant in the index corresponds to a comparable increase in health risk. This approach is based on new epidemiological findings on disease prevalence and mortality caused by air pollutants.
The new index evaluates real measurement data for the air pollutants particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10 ), nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulphur dioxide. The data is classified into categories ranging from very good to very poor and presented in an index that was derived from studies on disease prevalence (e.g. hospital admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases) and mortality. Forecasts of air pollutant concentrations are also displayed as index values, ranging from very good to very poor.
Thanks to the hourly updated index data, individuals can quickly adapt their behaviour to the current air quality. Updated recommendations now provide even more targeted guidance for the general population and for vulnerable groups such as children, older adults, and people with respiratory diseases, who are particularly sensitive when air quality worsens.
Key updates to the AQI at a glance:
- Use of hourly measurement data also for particulate matter
- Inclusion of sulphur dioxide as an additional pollutant
- Risk-equivalent derivation for all pollutant classes
- Methodological basis rooted in WHO guidelines and latest evidence on disease prevalence and mortality
- Updated guidance for the general population and vulnerable groups
Building on the development of the new AQI, the German Environment Agency has comprehensively modernised its digital information services on air quality. The “Luftqualität” app (free for iOS and Android) now provides up-to-date pollutant levels and guidance based on the new AQI. Users can check current air quality at the roughly 400 air monitoring stations in Germany.
New in the app is the hourly data for particulate matter, instead of just the previous daily values. In addition, the layout has been adjusted to be more user-friendly.
The UBA air data portal has also been technically and visually updated. It now provides simplified access to measurement data, maps, and background information, enabling an even more transparent presentation of air quality in Germany.
Further Information on the AQI:
The index system for assessing air quality in Germany, in place since 2019, has been modernised in light of new scientific evidence. The newly developed Air Quality Index meets all requirements of the new European Air Quality Directive, which calls for timely and transparent information for the public with a particular focus on vulnerable groups.
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