Environment

PM10 concentration in Serbia 10 times above limit, as region fills most polluted cities lists

PM10

Photo: Air pollution in Bor (BGEN)

Published

October 25, 2019

Country

Comments

comments icon

1

Share

Published:

October 25, 2019

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

1

Share

Over the past few days, Serbian citizens in Belgrade, Niš, Valjevo, as well as other places, have been able to feel the smell and see the color of the air they breathe, which makes it life-threatening. The proof of this is the official measurement of particulate matter PM10, whose concentrations are up to 10 times higher than the allowed 50 micrograms per cubic meter. The situation is no different in the rest of the region, so that these days Sarajevo (BiH), Skopje (North Macedonia), and Belgrade (Serbia) are among the 20 cities in the world with the poorest air quality.

Given that large heating plants are not yet running due to warm temperatures, individual heating is seen as one of the main culprits for the current pollution in Serbia, alongside unfavorable weather conditions, primarily the lack of wind. True, harmful emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants and industrial facilities are not to be disregarded either. There is no doubt that the upcoming activation of heating plans will make the situation increasingly worse.

According to official data from the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, the biggest threat to citizens is particulate matter PM10, which is essentially carcinogenic, representing a mixture of smoke, soot, exhaust fumes, dust, acids, and metals, and being the main reason, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), for around 6,000 premature deaths in Serbia each year from air pollution-related diseases.

When it comes to the rest of the region, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published in June this year revealed that the sum total number of premature deaths directly attributable to air pollution in 19 Western Balkan cities is nearly 5,000 a year.

PM10 concentrations reached 490 micrograms per cubic meter in Pančevo

PM10 concentrations, according to data from the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, have in the past few days reached 100 micrograms per cubic meter in Niš, 130 in Valjevo, 180 in New Belgrade, 250 each in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad and in Bor (where citizens protested), and as much as 490 micrograms per cubic meter in Pančevo.

Even today, these cities have an increased concentration of PM10. The list of places with polluted air also includes Belgrade, Kosjerić, Užice, Niš, Beočin, Valjevo, and Bor, while the air in Pančevo, Novi Sad, and Subotica is highly polluted.

AirVisual, a website and app monitoring air quality worldwide, declared Belgrade the city with the most polluted air in the world

It is not surprising, then, that on October 20 AirVisual, a website and app monitoring air quality worldwide, declared Belgrade the city with the most polluted air in the world, ahead of a number of cities in India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, and Poland. Sarajevo features regularly on this list, along with Sofia and Skopje. Around noon today, the air in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Sofia, according to the AirVisual methodology, was unhealthy for sensitive groups of people.

Comments (1)
Dragan / November 16, 2019

God only knows what kind of weather manipulation is going on in the skies above Serbia

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

eu european commission critical raw materials

European Commission launches call for investment in green transition, critical raw materials in Western Balkans

28 April 2025 - Private businesses from the EU, the EEA, and the Western Balkans are invited to express interest in investing in the region

Turkey major lithium producer geothermal wells

Turkey aims to become major lithium producer with its geothermal wells

21 April 2025 - Existing geothermal wells alone can enable Turkey to become one of the world's major producers of lithium, JESDER's chief Ufuk Şentürk said

bih sarajevo Register of Air Emissions and the Information System of Air Pollutants home fireplaces

Sarajevo rolls out fully digital system to track air-polluting emissions

18 April 2025 - The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina has developed a register of air-polluting emissions and an information system to track pollutants.

Serbian Minister Mining Energy Dubravka Djedovic Dedović Handanovi Sara Pavkov environment

Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović gets third mandate; Sara Pavkov takes over environment

16 April 2025 - Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović started her third term while new Minister of Environmental Protection Sara Pavkov is the cabinet's youngest member