New private monitoring network highlights Bucharest areas with the most polluted air

A new private network that monitors air quality in Bucharest launched on Thursday, December 12. The airlive.ro platform currently measures air quality parameters in various locations in Bucharest through a network of ten sensors but aims to reach a network of 50 sensors in 2020.

As a result of the measurements made between August 13 and December 3, the network recorded 40 cases in which the average daily concentration of PM10 (particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter) exceeded the European daily limits imposed on air quality. Most such excesses - 11 days - were registered at the Calea Mosilor station (central area), and the largest exceedance of the limit was registered at the Piata Sudului station (southern area), where the station measured a PM10 value of 123 µg / m3 (more than double the European limit of 50 µg / m3).

“The data obtained through the aerlive.ro platform represents a new alarm signal about the negative impact that polluted air has on the health of Bucharest residents. Over 25,000 Romanians die prematurely due to air pollution, and most of them are from Bucharest, according to the European Environment Agency. Pollution is responsible for one-third of lung cancer cases, and children are the most affected. Exposure to the toxic particles generated by car traffic affects the heart, lungs and brain of children, leading to asthma, allergies and reduced brain functioning,” says Ștefan Voinea, an expert from the Romanian Health Observatory, one of the project’s partner organizations.

The network will also measure the concentration of PM2.5, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and the results will be transposed into an Air Quality Index in the future.

“Bucharest does not have a functional network for measuring air quality managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, as it should have. The 8 stations located in Bucharest and Ilfov selectively and doubtfully measure air quality, which is why the European Commission referred Romania to the European Court of Justice, therefore, we have decided to support partner organizations, a platform for air quality measurement sensors, to provide information to citizens and then to involve citizens in this process,” Oana Neneciu, Executive Director, Ecopolis.

The project was launched by the Center for Durable Policies Ecopolis and the ETA2U Foundation, along with partner organizations OPTAR, 2Celsius, and the Romanian Health Observatory, and with the support of the IKEA Foundation for Urban Environment.

aerlive.ro also aims to involve citizens in the process of measuring air quality. Through the online platform, the project team will distribute individual sensors for measuring PMs to citizens who want to adopt a sensor, mount it and keep it in operation for a period of at least 18 months. The data provided by the sensors will be retrieved by the aerlive.ro platform in real-time. The methodology for adopting sensors will be available soon on the site.