Pollution:the 58 cities in Italy where smog is out of bounds

30 polluted territories with values ​​increasing since 2018.The Po Valley at the bar.Milan improves, Veneto worsens

There are 58 Italian cities where the concentration of fine particles exceeds the World Health Organization limits.73% of Italians live there.In 58 urban centers the average concentration of PM 2.5 detected this year exceeded the reference value of 10 micrograms per cubic meter. Of these, nine doubled the limit.The province most affected from January to August 2023 is Cremona.Followed by Monza and Brianza, Milan, Mantua and Padua.Deutsche Welle provides the pollution numbers in cities, in collaboration with the European Data Journalism Network of which Il Sole 24 Ore is also part.The paper extracted satellite data from the Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service (Casm).

The atmospheric monitoring service

The analysis of the atmospheric monitoring service confirms the negative record of the territories of the Po Valley, which are among the most polluted even on a European scale.By analyzing the historical trend of particulate matter from 2018 to 2022 it is possible to discover that among the 27 member states of the Union, the territories of Northern Italy stand out negatively compared to all the others, with levels similar only to those detected in some regions of Poland (in primarily Miasto Kraków, Katowicki, Tyski and Rybnicki).But there is a difference.The levels of the Po Valley have been at a standstill for some time.In southern Poland the values ​​are high but appear to be decreasing.With reductions exceeding 20% ​​in the five years examined.Even the comparison in the national average concentration of particulate matter sees Italy (-0.5%) beaten by the performance of Poland (-23.4%).

The most polluted provinces

Il Sole 24 Orand it is known that between 2018 and 2022 smog is growing in 30 of the 58 cities defined as "polluted" due to levels of PM 2.5 above the standard limits.The peaks are recorded in Biella (where the average annual concentration of PM 2.5 went from 9.9 µg/m3 in 2018 to 11.6 last year, +17.2%), Lecco (+14.8) , Vicenza (+14.3%), Como (+14.2), Varese (+14%), Lucca (+12.9) and Pistoia (+12.7%).The average concentration also rises in the Veneto provinces of Treviso, Verona and Padua.While it falls in Milan, Brescia, Pavia, Cremona, Mantua and Lodi.The frequency of exceeding the risk thresholds is equally indicative.In Cremona and Lodi, out of a total of 295 weeks monitored from January 2018 to August 2023, 94.2% showed values ​​above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.Even in Milan the threshold was exceeded in 93.2% of the weeks (while in 38% of the weeks examined the 25 micrograms were exceeded).

The South

Even in the South there are polluted provinces.The most in danger are Naples, Caserta, Benevento, Taranto, Avellino, Lecce and Brindisi.Rome is in 41st place in the ranking with an increase of 3.3% between 2018 and 2022.In 35th place is Turin, while Venice is twelfth.Arezzo closes the ranking.The WHO has lowered the risk ceiling in 2021.In light of scientific research showing health effects at lower levels.Italian legislation, regulated by Legislative Decree 155/2010, still allows concentrations of up to 25 micrograms per year.Between 2016 and 2020 at least 246,133 people died prematurely in Italy due to pollution at levels higher than those indicated in the guidelines.In the last five years, Italy has recorded a growth trend (+5.4%).In some provinces of the Po Valley (such as Cremona, Milan and Padua) premature deaths from pollution were even more than seven per thousand inhabitants.