The official figures communicated through the Air Quality Monitoring system show that the level of pollution in Bucharest already exceeded the limits for this year, according to local Mediafax.

In addition, Greenpeace Romania showed that some of the stations monitoring pollution levels in the city haven’t been working every day. Two of these stations are located on Mihai Bravu and Calea Victoriei boulevards in downtown Bucharest.

Basically, the stations must record the pollution values for each day of the year but, in fact, a graph published on the website of the National Air Quality Monitoring Network showed that no data has been recorded for many days. Even so, with tens of days missing from the record, the values were exceeded for this year, at least in terms of fine dust pollution (PM10).

“The two stations in the city center that only monitor traffic pollution, B6 and B3, located at the Military Circle and on Mihai Bravu boulevard, are the most important, being the most central, especially B6, but they have many interruptions. Data are missing at least for PM10 and nitrogen dioxide,” said Alin Tanase, campaign coordinator at Greenpeace Romania, according to Mediafax.

He explained that, for example, for PM10 a city is allowed to have 35 days in which the limit values are exceeded, namely the average of more than 50 µg/m3 (50 micrograms per cubic meter) per day. Cities exceeding this limit are considered to have a problem with dust pollution and, in Bucharest, the B3 station already registered 39 days with pollution levels over the limit.

Moreover, on certain days of 2019, according to the data published through the monitoring system - managed by the National Agency for Environmental Protection - the pollution values were almost double the limit.

The main sources of PM10 pollution in cities are the industrial activity, the public heating system or the thermoelectric power stations. Road traffic also contributes to the particle pollution.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

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