In Thessaloniki, three out of five regions have the worst air quality in the country

Ha A negative prime number in Annual concentration of PM2.5 (per μg/m3) the 2022 in our country thessaloniki basilica, According to a new report from the Swiss air quality technology company, IQAir. This report shows that in the past year about 90% of humanity has come face to face Unhealthy air quality And only 6 countries and 7 island colonies fulfilled his recommendations World Health Organization (WHO) to safe levels of air pollutants.

IQAir measures air quality levels at thousands of locations around the world, based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to these particles can lead to heart attacks, asthma attacks and early death, while studies have also linked long-term exposure to PM2.5 to higher death rates from Covid-19, i.e. coronavirus.

When the World Health Organization first published air quality guidelines in 2005, it stated that acceptable levels of air pollution were less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre. In 2021, the World Health Organization changed the reference guidelines to levels of less than 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

Specifically, in Vasiliki, which ranks 59th in Europe for air quality and air pollution, the average annual concentration of PM2.5 particles is at 23.9 μg/m3, which is slightly worse than in 2021 (23.2 μg/m3). cube). The two most stressful months in the region, as measured by IQAir, are January, March and December 2022, when prices rose to At least seven times (!) the levels considered acceptable by the World Health Organization (5 μg / m3 or less).

Immediately after Vasilika, in second place is Heraklion in Crete, with 23.6 μg/m3 for 2022, the city in Greece with the most dramatic deterioration in air quality, since 2021 the concentration was at 20.8 μg/m3.

In third place is Plagiari Thessaloniki, with an annual concentration of 22.9 µg/m3 (from 22.1 in 2021) – 68th overall in Europe – along with Janina (69th in Europe), as pollution levels remained unchanged compared to 2021.

The top five is closed by heart, And again in Thessaloniki, with an average of 22.6 μg/m3, compared to 22.1 μg/m3 in 2021. Cardia is the 71st worst place in Europe.

Its region is the eighth worst in our country Beria (21.3 µg/m³) and on the eleventh day Enthusiasm (20.4 µg/m³).

“Athens-Thessaloniki doubles” in terms of air pollution

the Thessaloniki city It ranks 17th (19.7 μg/m3) in terms of area in the country under study, in Worse fate than Athens (19.2 μg/m3)Which shows a clear improvement compared to 2021 when the average was 20.8 micrograms. The concentration of particulate matter in Thessaloniki, which ranks 119th in Europe, is 4.9 times higher than the WHO reference guidelines Acceptable levels of air pollution in micrograms per cubic meter! According to the US Air Quality Index (US AQI), air pollution in Thessaloniki is rated as “moderate to moderate”.

As a regional unit, Thessaloniki is on this list The seven regions with available data are in the country’s 20 worst countries.

On the contrary, the cleanest region in Greece is corfu city, The only one in the whole country Meets WHO guidelines! It indicates, in fact, a significant improvement in the specific indicator compared to 2021 (3.1 μg / cubic meter), with a concentration of only 2.3 μg per cubic meter.

The five most polluted cities on Earth

The same report found that the five most polluting countries in 2022 were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh. The most polluted cities in the world were Lahore in Pakistan, Khotan in China, Bewandi in India, Delhi in India and Peshawar in Pakistan.

Air quality in Lahore deteriorated to 97.4 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2022 – almost five times that of Thessaloniki-, Up from 86.5 the previous year, making it the most polluted city in the world.

Columbus Ohio is like… Tinos

It also turns out that India and Pakistan are the countries with the worst air quality in the Southeast Asian region, with more than half of the population living in areas where PM 2.5 particles are concentrated. by 10 times (!) higher levels recommended by the World Health Organization. In the United States, the most polluted major cities were Columbus and Ohio, followed by Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Dallas. Columbus air quality reached 13.1 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2022 -Same price obtained for Tinos in Greece- making it the most polluted major city in the United States. The cleanest city in the United States is Las Vegas.

Greece as a country in position 50 out of a total of 131 countries (118 with exhausting air quality), With an average concentration of PM 2.5 particles at 19 μg, 3.9 times above the limits approved by the World Health Organization.

Only 6 countries meet WHO recommended limits

Only 6 countries and 7 island colonies, according to the IQAir report, have met – in descending order – the WHO’s updated health thresholds: Finland, Estonia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Australia, Grenada, New Caledonia, Iceland, Bonaire (a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles) , Bermuda, the US Virgin Islands, French Polynesia, and last and best of all, the volcanic island of Guam.

Africa, Central and Southern Asia … were overrepresented in the city ranking list in locations of the highest population-weighted average annual PM2.5 concentrations. However, only 19 of the 54 African countries have sufficient data available to use IQAir.

The 2022 report used air quality data from More than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations and air quality sensors from 7,323 cities in 131 countries, regions and territories. These stations and sensors are operated by government agencies, research institutes, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, universities, educational institutions, private companies, and individual scientists as conscious citizens around the world.

As the report notes, air pollution primarily affects already vulnerable communities, with more than 90% of air pollution-related deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

According to an American study, air pollution takes more than two years off global life expectancy, while 60% of particle pollution comes from burning fossil fuels, which is considered an accelerator of climate change and global warming.