Environmental Health in Israel | 2014

Progress and Challenges  The Clean Air Law, which came into force in 2011, marks major progress in establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for improving ambient air quality in Israel. The Clean Air Regulations passed in 2011 and the regulations which will enter into force in 2015 are expected to lead to reductions in concentrations of ambient contaminants in Israel and to a reduction in air pollution-related morbidity and mortality. However, for many ambient air pollutants with major public health effects, ambient air quality standards are significantly higher than the target values. Both the target values and the air quality standards need to be re-evaluated periodically (within five years) to ensure that the Clean Air Regulations are indeed protective of public health.  Ambient concentrations of PM 10 , ozone and nitrogen oxides continue to exceed maximum limit values in major metropolitan areas. Adoption of the National Pollution Reduction and Prevention Program is expected to lead to reductions in ambient air pollution emissions of VOCs, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and benzene but not PM. Since the Treasury funded only a modified form of the National Pollution Reduction and Prevention Program, the decrease in emissions will not be as significant as intended by the original program.  Transport demand and private car ownership are increasing steadily in Israel. Measures to reduce transport emissions have included adoption of European standards for imported vehicles, fuel quality, and vehicle tests. There are significant challenges in integrating transport and land use planning, improving alternatives to private car use, and promoting sustainable urban design.  The National Air Monitoring Network is one of the densest in the world and data are widely available to the general public and to researchers. Lack of uniformity in data collection and quality control among different monitoring stations hinders the reliability of the data collected prior to June 2013. Since then, improvements in the MoEP guidelines and procedures for monitoring ambient air have led to improvements in data comparability from different monitoring systems. However, spatial distribution of monitoring stations is uneven and data are lacking on ambient air levels in selected geographical areas in Israel.  To date, there is no strategy for regular sampling of air pollutants that cannot be monitored continuously, including PM-bound metals, persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and polybrominated diphenylethers. Environmental Health in Israel 2014  Chapter 1 - 16 -