STA, 1 April 2022 - Slovenia is among the five European countries with the highest recorded concentrations of the PM 2.5 fine particulate matter, shows the latest annual assessment of air quality by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The report includes the official data for 2020 and provisional data for 2021 on concentrations of key air pollutants measured at more than 4,500 measuring stations in 37 European countries.
The report says that 96% of the population of European cities was exposed in 2020 to concentrations of the PM 2.5 fine particulate matter that exceed the annual value of five micrograms per m3 recommended by of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The highest concentrations of PM 2.5 in EU member states were observed in Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia.
In Slovenia, values between 11 and 17 micrograms of PM 2.5 particulates per m3 were measured at four measuring points - in Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje and Nova Gorica.
According to the EEA, the higher concentrations of particulate matter in these countries are mainly a result of burning of solid fuels such as coal and wood for heating in households and the use of fossil fuels in industrial production.
