Table 3

Description of pollution discharged into the air by industrial plants in Spain (2001), by specific pollutant.
POLLUTANTS
 TOTAL SPAIN
 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS WITH HIGHEST EMISSIONS
SUBSTANCES
 THRESHOLD (Mt/year)1
 EMISSION (Mt/year)2
 PLANTS3
 MEAN EMISSION PER PLANT (Mt/year)4
 REGION
 EMISSION (Mt/year)2
 PLANTS3
 MEAN EMISSION PER PLANT (Mt/year)4
GROUP 1: ENVIRONMENTAL THEMES
Methane
 100
 78670
 58
 1356
 Aragon
 19048
 6
 3175
Carbon monoxide
 500
 243834
 56
 4354
 Asturias
 119754
 5
 23951
Carbon dioxide
 100000
 155211000
 153
 1014451
 Asturias
 23823000
 13
 1832538
Hydrofluorocarbons
 0.1
 276
 5
 55
 Catalonia
 193
 4
 48
Nitrous oxide
 10
 6208
 37
 168
 Castile-La Mancha
 1494
 6
 249
Ammonia
 10
 24049
 815
 30
 Aragon
 10015
 399
 25
Non-methane volatile organic compounds
 100
 63781
 60
 1063
 Andalusia
 16810
 7
 2401
Nitrogen dioxide
 100
 801301
 217
 3693
 Catalonia
 394548
 33
 11956
Perfluorocarbons
 0.1
 30
 4
 8
 Galicia
 18
 2
 9
Sulphur dioxide
 150
 1156625
 156
 7414
 Galicia
 412414
 12
 34368









GROUP 2: METALS AND COMPOUNDS
Arsenic
 0.02
 6
 33
 0.17
 Andalusia
 2
 8
 0.20
Cadmium
 0.01
 5
 46
 0.11
 Basque Country
 1
 13
 0.10
Chromium
 0.10
 80
 40
 2
 Basque Country
 44
 11
 4
Copper
 0.10
 29
 28
 1
 Andalusia
 15
 6
 2
Mercury
 0.01
 3
 34
 0.08
 Catalonia
 0.5
 8
 0.06
Nickel
 0.05
 171
 96
 2
 Andalusia
 42
 18
 2
Lead
 0.20
 100
 50
 2
 Basque Country
 53
 14
 4
Zinc
 0.20
 655
 43
 15
 Basque Country
 368
 15
 25









GROUP 3: CHLORINATED ORGANIC SUBSTANCES
Dichloroethane-1,2
 1
 3
 1
 3
 Catalonia
 3
 1
 3
Dichloromethane
 1
 61
 4
 15
 Madrid Region
 29
 1
 29
Hexachlorobenzene
 0.01
 0.03
 2
 0.02
 Extremadura
 0.02
 1
 0.02
Dioxins and furans
 0.000001
 0.0002
 11
 0.00002
 Basque Country
 0.0001
 2
 0.00005
Tetrachloroethylene
 2
 72
 1
 72
 Basque Country
 72
 1
 72
Tetrachloromethane
 0.10
 0.50
 1
 0.50
 Catalonia
 0.50
 1
 0.50
Trichloroethylene
 2
 81
 3
 27
 Castile & Leon
 62
 1
 62
Trichloromethane
 0.50
 23
 2
 12
 Andalusia
 18
 1
 18









GROUP 4: OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Benzene
 1
 197
 20
 10
 Andalusia
 97
 5
 19
Polyciclic aromatic hydrocarbons
 0.05
 21
 16
 1
 Andalusia
 12
 3
 4









GROUP 5: OTHER COMPOUNDS
Chlorine and inorganic compounds
 10
 2217
 44
 50
 Andalusia
 1582
 13
 122
Fluorine and inorganic compounds
 5
 2091
 35
 60
 Andalusia
 1122
 15
 75
HCN
 0.2
 4
 6
 0.6
 Basque Country
 4
 6
 0.6
PM10
 50
 43575
 119
 366
 Castile & Leon
 11547
 10
 1155

1 Established air emission threshold or limit value (in Mt/year) for each pollutant. Should any plant exceed this threshold, it must report the release of the pollutant (voluntarily)

2 Amount of pollutant (in Mt/year) released by industrial plants

3 Number of industrial plants that discharge said pollutant

4 Mean emission = Emission/Plants

García-Pérez et al. BMC Public Health 2007 7:40   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-7-40