Guidance

MCERTS performance standards for ambient monitoring equipment

Published 6 December 2022

Applies to England

Guidance setting out the standards that continuous ambient monitoring systems and low-cost air quality sensor systems need to meet.

This guidance is for:

• manufacturers of monitoring equipment who need to know what standards to meet to be able to sell their equipment in the UK

• test laboratories who test equipment on behalf of manufacturers to check it meets the required standard

The Environment Agency set up its monitoring certification scheme (MCERTS) to provide guidelines on the standards you need to meet to monitor emissions that affect the environment.

To get MCERTS certification for ambient monitoring equipment you must comply with the certification requirements. You must also comply with the manufacturer’s quality management system for manufacturing and design control of monitoring systems. These requirements are set out in:

• EN 15267-1 Air quality – Certification of automated measuring systems – Part 1: General aspects

• EN 15267-2 Air quality – Certification of automated measuring systems – Part 2: Minimum requirements for product quality assurance, initial assessment and on-going surveillance

CSA Group UK Ltd are a certification body appointed to run this scheme on behalf of the Environment Agency.

CSA Group UK Ltd complies with EN ISO/IEC 17065 Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes, and services.

1. Continuous ambient monitoring systems

Here we describe the certification requirements for continuous ambient monitoring systems (CAMS).

1.1 Scope of pollutants

MCERTS for CAMS covers the following pollutants:

• nitrogen monoxide

• nitrogen dioxide

• sulfur dioxide

• carbon monoxide

• ozone

• particulate matter

• benzene and other volatile organic compounds

1.2 Legislative requirements

The Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 21 May 2008, on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe has been adopted into UK law. Under this directive, CAMS used to report air quality results must have product certification or type approval before they can be used.

The MCERTS scheme for CAMS meets these requirements, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recognises MCERTS as a way to deliver this product certification.

1.3 Certification

When you submit a CAMS for certification, an approved test laboratory will assess that it meets the requirements specified in one of the following standards:

• EN 12341:2022 Ambient air – Standard gravimetric measurement method for the determination of the PM₁₀ or PM_2,5 mass concentration of suspended particulate matter

• EN 14211:2012 Ambient air – Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen monoxide by chemiluminescence

• EN 14212:2012 Ambient air – Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of sulfur dioxide by ultraviolet fluorescence

• EN 14625:2012 Ambient air – Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of ozone by ultraviolet photometry

• EN 14626:2012 Ambient air – Standard method for the measurement of carbon monoxide concentrations in ambient air by non-dispersive infrared spectroscopy

• EN 14662-3:2015 Ambient air – Standard method for the Measurement of Benzene Concentrations. Part 3: Automated pumped sampling with in-situ gas chromatography

• EN 16450:2017 Ambient air – Automated measuring systems for the measurement of the concentration of particulate matter (PM₁₀ or PM_2,5)

You must tell CSA Group UK Ltd about any deviation from these requirements as soon as possible in the certification process to minimise wasted time or financial burdens. Deviations might include:

• a different method of detection

• different averaging time

• an insufficient range of concentrations

• failing any of the laboratory or field test requirements

If a CAMS is certified to earlier standards, when you come to recertify you must provide evidence that it meets the requirements of the latest published standard.

In exceptional circumstances you may negotiate a short grace period. For example, this could be if the latest standard has only just been published and you can show that you have already commissioned the additional tests needed to meet the new standard.

You may apply to have your CAMS certified to EN 14662-3:2015 for pollutants other than volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Please contact CSA Group UK Ltd for guidance on this.

You may apply to have your CAMS certified to EN16450:2017 and to the Annex to the MCERTS performance standards for ambient air quality monitoring systems: Requirements of the UK Competent Authority for the Equivalence Testing and Certification of Automated Continuous and Manual Discontinuous Methods that Monitor Particulate Matter in Ambient Air. This is specifically for use in the UK because it demonstrates conformance with a UK particulate matter pollution climate.

Tests commissioned after 27 August 2020 must apply the following modifications:

• your CAMS must meet all the laboratory test requirements specified in EN16450:2017

• you must conduct at least 2 of the field tests in the UK – CAMS with European Union approval with at least 4 field tests can reduce the reference methods from 2 to 1 for the UK tests

• the pollution climate of all your other field tests should be within the range of those monitored in the UK between 2012 and 2020

• you are no longer required to assess the pollution climate in relation to the concentrations of volatile particulate matter

2. Open path monitoring systems

There is a separate MCERTS performance standard for open-path monitoring systems.

3. Indicative ambient particulate monitors

There is a separate MCERTS performance standard for indicative ambient particulate monitors.

4. Low-cost air quality sensor systems

Here we describe the certification requirements for low-cost air quality sensor systems for gases.

4.1 Scope of pollutants

MCERTS for low-cost air quality sensor systems covers the following pollutants:

• nitrogen monoxide

• nitrogen dioxide

• sulfur dioxide

• carbon monoxide

• ozone

• benzene and other volatile organic compounds.

4.2 Guidance on the use of low-cost air quality sensors

The document AQEG advice on the use of ‘low-cost’ pollution sensors - Defra, UK provides guidance on the use of low-cost air quality sensors.

4.3 Certification

When you submit a low-cost air quality sensor system for certification, it must go through the programme of performance testing specified in the technical specification ‘CEN/TS 17660‑1:2021 Air quality – Performance evaluation of air quality sensor systems. Part 1: Gaseous pollutants in ambient air’.

5. What to do next

You can find out more about MCERTS product certification on the CSA Group UK Ltd website or on GOV.UK.

You can contact the Environment Agency if you need any help.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.