Air quality in Zivinice

Is the air safe to breathe in Zivinice?

Zivinice is a city that has a varied level of air pollution present at different times of the year, ranging from very clean levels with low readings of both US AQI and PM2.5 (two of the most prominent measures of air pollution) all the way up to months that have fairly severe pollution spells, indicating that breathing the air at this time would be of great detriment to the health of those who are subject to its exposure, particularly if they belong to a vulnerable or at risk demographic.

Located in Tuzla Canton, one of the ten different Cantons, or regions within the country, Zivinice is home to a relatively small amount of people, with an estimated 57,765 people living there as of 2013. However, despite its smaller population, it still had some high levels of PM2.5 on record in years past, some of which will be discussed in following questions.

PM2.5 refers to particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, or roughly 30% the size of a human hair. It has the potential to go down to sizes many microns smaller in diameter, and as well as this, can be comprised of a number of extremely harmful materials, some of which may have carcinogenic or mutagenic properties. It is for these reasons that PM2.5 is also used as one of the more prominent measures of air pollution, along with the US AQI level.

Looking at the US AQI level in late May of 2021, it can be seen that Zivinice came in with an extremely good level of air quality, presenting with a reading of 21. This reading placed it into the ‘good’ air quality ratings bracket, meaning that the air would be mostly free from hazardous clouds of particulate matter, and accompanying smoke and haze that would permeate the atmosphere during spells of pollution. This is a further indicatory that Zivinice and indeed the whole country of Bosnia and Herzegovina would see much more appreciable levels of air quality if it were to address its more serious pollution causes, which will also be mentioned in following.

In 2020, Zivinice presented with a PM2.5 reading of 34.6 μg/m³ as its yearly average, placing it in the upper reaches of the ‘moderate’ air pollution bracket, which requires a reading of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such. With the addition of only 0.9 units it would have been moved up into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ air quality bracket (35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ required), indicating that although it achieved this moderate pollution rating, it was on the higher end, and as such the PM2.5 count still has a long way to go before it reaches safer levels. This reading placed Zivinice in 7^th place out of all cities ranked in Europe over 2020, as well as in 290^th place out of all cities ranked worldwide for the same year.

What causes bad air quality in Zivinice?

The main causes of air pollution within Zivinice, and indeed much of Bosnia, typically stem from a number of different combustion sources. One of the more ambient or year round sources of these would be fumes from vehicles, which can put out large amounts of both chemical compounds and fine particles, all of which have harmful effects to both human health and to the environment. Due to lack of stringent regulations regarding the quality of motors, many of the motorbikes, cars and freight vehicles in use are usually of the heavily aged or outdated variety.

This can lead to a significant amount of oil vapor leakage, as well as said vehicles giving out far more pollutants and particles than a cleaner or newer model may do. To compound this further, lower quality fuels also find themselves in usage, creating a situation whereby rush hour traffic or busy roads can cause dangerous buildups of air contaminants.

Other sources include power plants and factories, as well as certain businesses or industrial areas that rely on fossil fuels for their power supply. During the colder winter months, these power plants can go through vast amounts of coal and diesel fuel in order to supply many homes and places of business with energy, causing the pollution level to skyrocket. Thermal inversion, as well as urban topography and even meteorological conditions such as a lack of strong winds can all allow these pollutants to accumulate even further, and as such, pollution levels in Zivinice can be considered as an amalgamation of many different factors all contributing to the poor air quality.

When do pollution levels become worse in Zivinice?

Observing the air quality data as collected over the course of 2020, it can be seen that Zivinice, and indeed much of Bosnia, has its highest levels of pollution present in the colder winter months, as touched on briefly before. The months of January through to March, as well as October to December all presented with vastly higher readings of PM2.5. This indicates a yearly pattern whereby the air pollution levels start to rise at years end, and continue on into the early months of the following year, before dropping down to more appreciable levels.

January through to March presented with readings of 97.1 μg/m³, 75.3 μg/m³ and 46.1 μg/m³, whilst October through December came in with readings of 43.7 μg/m³, 61.2 μg/m³ and 72 μg/m³. This shows that January was the most heavily polluted month of the year in 2020, with its sizeable reading of 97.1 μg/m³.

Does Zivinice experience any months of cleaner air quality?

After the pollution levels start to abate in March, the months of April through to September all show much better readings of air quality. Out of all of these, June through to August had even cleaner readings, coming in at 9.9 μg/m³, 11.1 μg/m³ and 11.6 μg/m³, making June the cleanest month of the year and the only time in which the world health organization's (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less was attained.

What are some of the chemical pollutants found in the air in Zivinice?

The main pollutants in the air in Zivinice would be the two types of fine particles, namely PM2.5 and PM10, along with other chemical compounds that go into calculating the US AQI level. These are nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and ozone (O₃), all of which can find release from both vehicles, industrial areas and even the burning of materials such as firewood or charcoal.