Expert air quality consultants delivering clarity, compliance, and confidence.
An air quality assessment evaluates how a proposed development, industrial activity, or operational process may affect local air quality, human health, and sensitive ecological habitats. These assessments are essential for planning applications, environmental permitting, construction activities, and ongoing operational compliance.
Using air quality data, including particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), nitrogen oxides, ozone (O3), and other key pollutants, our air quality consultants assess potential impacts on communities, ecosystems, and designated sites. We also consider local air quality index (AQI) ratings, nearby monitoring stations, and baseline conditions to ensure a robust, defensible assessment.
Arthian supports projects across the full development lifecycle, helping clients understand risks, meet regulatory expectations, and improve air quality outcomes for people and habitats.
Key benefits include:
Arthian provides a comprehensive suite of air quality services tailored to site‑specific risks, planning context, and regulatory requirements. Each service is designed to give you clarity, confidence, and a clear pathway to compliance.
Air Quality Assessments
Dispersion Modelling
Assessment of Effects on Habitats
Arthian brings a uniquely integrated, multidisciplinary approach to air quality assessment, ensuring your project benefits from both technical excellence and strategic insight.
You gain:
Our air quality consultants help you navigate complex requirements with confidence and precision.
This section focuses specifically on how our air quality specialists simplify your assessment and compliance journey, distinct from the broader multidisciplinary strengths above.
We use industry‑leading tools to model emissions and forecast pollutant concentrations, including particulate matter and ozone (O3), ensuring your assessment reflects real‑world conditions.
Our consultants calculate and justify stack heights to ensure effective dispersion and regulatory compliance, supporting both planning and environmental permitting.
From rapid screening to detailed modelling, we assess odour and ammonia impacts across agriculture, waste, wastewater, and industrial sectors and develop robust mitigation strategies.
We evaluate air quality impacts on ecological receptors, including nitrogen deposition and acidification, ensuring your project meets planning and conservation requirements.
Our assessments are structured for planners, regulators, and stakeholders, providing clarity, transparency, and defensible conclusions.
We translate technical findings into practical health advice, helping clients understand how to reduce exposure to air pollution and address poor air quality risks.
Air quality assessments play a crucial role in protecting public health. Poor air quality can significantly impact people’s well-being, particularly individuals with existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema, or COPD.
Large construction projects often generate pollutants like dust and vehicle emissions, which can degrade the surrounding air. By carrying out air quality assessments, potential risks are identified early, allowing for effective mitigation measures that safeguard both current communities and future occupants.
Air quality assessments are required under the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) framework, which obligates all UK local authorities to routinely evaluate air quality within their boundaries. As a result, these assessments — along with any necessary mitigation measures — are commonly needed when applying for planning permission for major developments. This requirement becomes even more critical in designated Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs), where pollution levels are already a known concern.
The level of detail required in an air quality assessment varies depending on the scale and nature of the proposed development, as well as any initial findings that indicate the need for further analysis.
At a minimum, a basic assessment will review existing air quality conditions around the site, evaluate the potential impacts of construction activities, estimate how many receptors may be exposed to poor air quality as a result of the development, and outline the mitigation measures needed to reduce those risks.
The time required for an air quality assessment varies depending on the scale of the development and the level of monitoring needed. Some projects only require straightforward on‑site testing, which can be completed within a few hours. More complex developments may need extended monitoring periods, sometimes lasting up to three months, to gather sufficient data for a thorough assessment.
For tailored advice on the expected timescales for your project, our team can provide guidance.
