Air quality readings taken at one Irish port recently discovered pollution at 250 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe levels. The main culprit? Cruise ships.

What's happening?

According to EU Reporter, the readings were taken at Cobh, in Ireland's Cork Harbour, and found pollution levels of ultra-fine particles from cruise ships in residential areas to be as high as 250,000 particles per cubic centimeter. WHO considers 1,000 particles per cubic centimeter to be safe.

Why is ship pollution important?

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, air pollution has been tied to a number of serious health consequences, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and reproductive, neurological, and immune system disorders.

Cruise ships that run on dirty fuel sources are significant contributors to black carbon, also known as soot.

"Black carbon particles are lethal to humans when inhaled, but they also drive climate change," Sian Prior, lead advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance, told EU Reporter, which reported on the findings. The publication explained that when black carbon reaches the Arctic and settles out of the atmosphere, it drives snow and ice melt.

This isn't the first time that the cruise ship industry's environmental impacts have been brought to light. Amsterdam is implementing restrictions on cruise ships in response to the air pollution and overwhelming number of visitors they bring to the city. Cities in Florida, Maine, Alaska, and California are pushing to restrict or ban cruise ships from their ports. 

Meanwhile, ocean advocates are sounding the alarm about ships' scrubber systems, which flush out harmful chemicals from their exhaust but ultimately dump the resulting contaminants directly into the water, putting marine life and coastal communities at risk.

What's being done about ship pollution?

Kåre Press-Kristensen, senior advisor on air quality and climate at Green Global Future, advocated for Cobh to install shore power facilities to reduce pollution. 

"[This] will allow ships to connect to the electricity grid instead of idle running and polluting all day," Press-Kristensen told EU Reporter.

Earlier this year, Ireland also supported efforts to establish the Northeast Atlantic emission control area, which will extend from the Straits of Gibraltar to Greenland. According to Prior, it will reduce air pollution from ships at sea in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.

"The Northeast Atlantic emission control area, which will include all of Ireland's waters, was approved by the IMO in April and should require the use of cleaner fuels in 2027 provided it is adopted later this year," Prior told EU Reporter. "It will be important that these measures to reduce air pollution are complemented by onshore power facilities to reduce emissions in ports." 

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