Demand for air quality monitoring 'to soar over next year'

The demand for the services of firms which conduct air quality monitoring will rise by 20 per cent next year compared to 2009 rates, it has been predicted.

According to the latest installation of the McIlvaine Air Pollution Monitoring and Sampling World Market report, the air quality monitoring industry will grow to $2.2 billion (£1.5 billion) next year.

This is due to an increase in environmental awareness and the growing need to cap carbon emissions worldwide, it states.

An increase in stack monitoring in Asia and the recent reclassification of CO2 as a pollutant in the US will be the major drivers of this growth, the paper estimates.

China may be among the Asian nations contributing towards the higher demand for air quality monitoring methods in the future, as it announced recently that it is considering setting itself carbon reduction targets from 2011, the Guardian reports.