Ranking: Bucharest, among European cities with poor air quality

Bucharest ranks 263rd among 323 European cities included in the European city air quality viewer recently launched by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The viewer provides data on the levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in over 300 cities across EEA member countries. The cities are ranked from the cleanest city to the most polluted, based on average levels of fine particulate matter over the past two calendar years. It uses data reported to the EEA by its member countries under the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directives.

From 2019 to 2020, the top three cleanest cities in Europe in terms of air quality were Umeå in Sweden, Tampere in Finland and Funchal in Portugal. The three most polluted were Nowy Sacz in Poland, Cremona in Italy and Slavonski Brod in Croatia.

Of the 323 cities included in the viewer, air quality in 127 cities is categorized as good, meaning that it falls below the health-based guideline for long-term exposure to PM2.5 of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (10 μg/m3) established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bucharest is included in the group of cities with poor air quality, where the PM2.5 annual mean concentration was at levels from 15 to below 25 μg/m3. The fine particulate matter in the Romanian capital was 16.4 μg/m3.

The western Romania city of Timișoara ranks 267th with a PM2.5 concentration of 16.8, while Brașov, in the central part of the country, ranks 273rd, with a concentration of 17.1.

The European city air quality viewer is available here.

(Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos)