HEALTH CONTEXT

Public Health Context

WHO-style pollutant benchmark context and UKHSA-style interpretation boundaries for AQ26 evidence screening.

WHO pollutantsPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ / SO₂ / O₃ / CObenchmark context

Incinerator pollutantsacid gases / metals / POPspermit evidence needed

Claim boundaryscreening onlyno health causation claim

Public-health interpretation boundary

AQ26 keeps emissions, ambient concentrations, exposure and health outcomes separate. WHO-style pollutant benchmarks are used only as health-context prompts; they do not identify the source of pollution.

WHO-style pollutant benchmark scope

PM2.5WHO AQG: 5 µg/m³ annual; 15 µg/m³ 24-hour

fine particulates / proxy evidence context

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

PM10WHO AQG: 15 µg/m³ annual; 45 µg/m³ 24-hour

particulates; UKHSA notes PM10 can be a proxy for other emissions in some evidence

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

NO₂WHO AQG: 10 µg/m³ annual; 25 µg/m³ 24-hour

combustion-related nitrogen oxides context

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

SO₂WHO AQG: 40 µg/m³ 24-hour

acid gas / combustion context

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

O₃WHO AQG: 100 µg/m³ 8-hour; 60 µg/m³ peak season

secondary pollutant context, not direct stack marker

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

COWHO AQG: 4 mg/m³ 24-hour

combustion-efficiency context

benchmark_ready_no_attribution

HCl / HFpermit/regulatory emissions context

chlorinated/fluorinated acidic gases

permit_matrix_needed

NH₃permit/regulatory emissions context

abatement/slip and secondary particulate chemistry context

permit_matrix_needed

Heavy metalspermit/stack-testing context

metals including lead, zinc, chromium, mercury and others where reported

permit_matrix_needed

Dioxins / furans / PAHspersistent organic pollutant context

requires specialist sampling, stack/permitting and biomonitoring evidence

manual_review_required

Benchmark cards are public-health context only. They are not source-attribution findings.

Source-attribution caution

Stack emissionspermit and stack-test evidence

Ambient concentrationmonitoring and meteorology context

Population exposurereceptors, time and activity patterns

Health outcomeepidemiology and clinical/public-health review

The automated site must not collapse these evidence classes into a single causal claim.

UKHSA-style balance

The public output is framed to support evidence review and challenge. It does not override regulator, public-health or permit determinations, and it does not assert that a modern regulated facility is or is not a significant public-health risk.