[Relevant research gaps in the field of air pollution]

The Swiss Association for Environmental Research is regularly evaluating environmental research activities in Switzerland and has also tried to set priorities in this field which is important especially in a small country like Switzerland. More attention should be paid to the sectors of social and human sciences, energy, recycling and waste management, agriculture and cultivation in mountains, as well as to limits of maximum load of emissions and immissions within the field of environmental research. Dealing with immissions, one should differentiate between compounds which are already monitored and new compounds which are growing fast. In both cases occurrence, accumulation and effects have to be analyzed. In the sector of air hygiene probably the following areas are therefore the most critical: Immissions of nitrogen oxides, of specific hydrocarbons, of specific aerosols, of radioactive products and synergistic effects of several of these compounds and their interaction with natural processes.