Reșita, Galați, and Sfântu Gheorghe (Covasna county) are the county seats with the cleanest air in Romania, according to the City Index, an urban performance analysis launched by the Institute for Visionary Cities. Air quality is one of the 51 performance indicators measured by the index as part of the place’s Quality component.

Next in the top 10 are Brăila, Târgu Jiu, Focșani, Slobozia, Satu Mare, Tulcea, and Zalău.

The Air Quality Index aggregated the values ​​reported by the National Air Quality Monitoring Network of the Ministry of the Environment on four parameters: NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), NOx (nitrogen oxides), PM10 (particles suspended in the air with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less), and PM2.5 (particles with a maximum diameter of 2.5 micrometers).

The main criteria for selecting the pollutants included in the index were their significant impact on human health and the availability of sufficient valid data for most of the monitored cities.

The annual values ​​of the four parameters, published on the Calitateaer.ro platform, were taken into account for the stations located in the 41 county seats for the period 2021-2023. The stations with urban background, traffic and industrial emissions from the territory of the municipalities, with valid annual data, were included.

According to the data and classifications of the Ministry of the Environment, some municipalities, especially big cities, are included in an air quality management regime 1, which means that the limit values established by law have been exceeded for at least one of the parameters analyzed.

The Air Quality Index grouped in a special category the cities included in this regime with poorer air quality. This group includes Deva, Suceava, Pitești, Brașov, Târgu Mureș, Constanta, Craiova, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Ploiesti, and Iași.

Air quality management regime 1 requires cities to develop and implement an air quality plan to achieve limit/target values.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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