The north no longer breathes:fine dust and ozone, critical situation

The most serious situations in Milan, Venice but also in Naples:exceed the PM 2.5 limit by at least twice

ROME – Sharp worsening of air quality in the capital municipalities:concentrations of fine dust and ozone are increasing, with the situation in the North becoming increasingly critical.This is what emerges from the Istat report on the urban environment.In 2022, compared to the previous year, there was an increase in the average annual concentrations of PM 2.5 in 56 of the 93 capital municipalities that carried out monitoring (60%) via 171 fixed detection stations.The trend of PM 10 is also worsening in the 100 capitals with monitoring carried out by 264 control units, which record increases in concentrations in 75% of cases.

Considering that PM 2.5 is contained in PM 10, the increase in the latter detected in a greater number of observations provides further confirmation of the worsening trend of finer particles, highly harmful to human health, considered responsible for a high number of premature deaths by WHO.

The trends observed mark a reversal of trend compared to recent years. The last significant worsening, in fact, occurred in 2017 while from 2018 to 2021 a clear trend towards a reduction in average annual concentrations was observed in the majority of capitals.

Fine particles are above WHO limits in more than eight out of 10 capitals.In all metropolitan capitals the thresholds are exceeded with the exception of Reggio Calabria, which did not carry out monitoring in 2022 (but exceeded the threshold in 2021).Furthermore, it is worth highlighting the most serious situations in Milan, Venice and Naples which exceed the limit of PM 2.5 by at least twice, and those of Turin and Cagliari, which double both the limit for PM 10 and that for PM 2.5.At the level of distribution, for both pollutants, a greater severity of the problem emerges in the North, where over 90% of the capitals exceed both thresholds.The share drops to around 80% in the Center and South, and is around 60% in the Islands.

To the negative situation described, it is added that the average annual values ​​of PM 2.5 exceed the WHO limit in all 46 capitals of the North, with the sole exception of Imperia, which does not carry out monitoring.The average annual concentrations double the limit in 18 northern capitals (Monza, Cremona, Padua, Brescia, Lodi, Vicenza, Rovigo, Bergamo, Piacenza, Ferrara, Como, Asti, Alessandria, Mantua, Treviso and Milan, Venice and Turin among the metropolitan ones ).In the Po basin, the highest values ​​of PM 2.5 are also found, for which our country is also the subject of European infringement procedures.

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