Legambiente, eight Italian cities exceed Pm10 limits: Verona the most polluted

22 April 2024

From January to March 2024, eight Italian cities are already outlawed for fine particulate matter, having exceeded the limit set for PM10 by 35 days in a calendar year with an average of more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre. This is revealed by air quality data released by Legambiente on the occasion of the 54th Earth Day.
The top eight cities are Verona (Borgo Milano) with 44 days of overruns in the first 91 days of the year, followed by Vicenza (San Felice) with 41, Padua (Arcella) 39, Frosinone (Scalo) 38, Brescia (Villaggio Sereno), Cremona (Piazza Cadorna), Turin (Grassi) and Venice (Via Beccaria) with 36. At the limit is Treviso (Via Lancieri) with 35 days of overruns, Modena (Giardini), Milan (Senato), Monza (Via Machiavelli) and Rovigo (Centro) 34.


Sensational peaks in fine dust
The first months of the new year were characterised by resounding peaks of fine dust, with daily averages well above the regulatory limits. Sixty-nine per cent of the monitoring stations analysed (109 out of a total of 168 for which data were available) had at least one day with a concentration above 100 µg/mc (against the daily legal limit of 50 µg/mc) up to a maximum recorded of over 200 µg/mc; an extremely high daily concentration that not only doubled the permitted limit (in 23 of the 109 stations it even tripled!), but above all was repeated on several occasions.
For example, in Venice (Via Beccaria) there were 12 days with a concentration above 100 µg/mc; in Rimini (Flaminia), Milan (Senato), Padua (Mandria), Piacenza (Giordani Farnese) and Modena (Giardini) 8; Verona (Borgo Milano), Bologna (Porta S. Felice), Ravenna (Zalamella) and Ferrara (Isonzo) 7. If filtered with the threshold of 75 µg/mc (one and a half times the daily limit), the number of control units that have repeatedly exceeded this value for at least 10 days (out of a total of 91) is 27.


Legambiente: 'Situation really worrying'
"The air pollution situation in the first 91 days of the new year," says Giorgio Zampetti, director general of Legambiente, "is truly worrying. This is why, on World Earth Day, we want to return to the issue of air quality, and ask everyone for a collective commitment. We need a greater commitment and concrete actions that can no longer be postponed, that are effective and far-reaching, that see the integration of urban, regional and national policies on cross-cutting issues related to the main emissive sectors such as traffic, agriculture, domestic heating and industry".


Concrete actions to help the environment
"But citizens can also concretely do their duty and set a good example," Zampetti continued, "starting with a change in habits that foresee a lesser use of the car for short journeys that can be easily covered on foot or by bicycle or linked by public transport; interventions to make our homes more energy efficient and conscious choices on food shopping that aim at reducing the consumption of those products deriving from intensive breeding and agriculture. At the same time, it is also necessary to increase the amount of greenery in our cities, planting trees, taking care of public spaces, which must become the lungs of our cities, in order to return to breathing clean air". 



Read the full article on:  https://www.larena.it/territorio-veronese/citta/legambiente-pm10-verona-maggior-numero-sforamenti-1.10686398