Dossier Ozon 2011: Een overzicht van de huidige stand van kennis over ozon op leefniveau in Nederland

Ozone is a natural component of the atmosphere and essential for life on earth. However, ozonconcentrations change caused by human activities. Ozone does have effects on humans and vegetation and also on climate. This Dossier Ozon 2011 describes the scientific knowledge on surface ozone and its effects in the Netherlands.
The high ozone levels (peak concentrations) are not likely to decrease in the Netherlands in the coming years. About the ozone peaks there is doubt about the effectiveness of the emission reductions of the ozone precursors.
The influence of the Dutch emissions on its own ozone concentration level is limited. The global background, which forms a large part of the average concentration, will rise without additional measures. This can only been tackled in European and global frameworks. Moreover, the importance of international agreements on emission reductions is stressed by the direct and indirect influences that ozone has on climate.The attention on the effects of ozone tends to shift from the effects of ozone peaks towards the long-term exposure of ozone. However, much uncertainty exists in this field. If it is clear that significant effects of ozone occur at lower levels than this may be reason to reduce also the global background concentration.