Air quality in Douai

What is the current level of air pollution in Douai city?

Douai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located on the banks of the Scarpe River around 40 kilometres from Lille. The town is still a transportation and commercial centre for the area, which was known up to the 1960s for its coalfield, the richest in northern France.

At the beginning of 2022, Douai was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 59. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most prolific air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. It can then be used as the metric when comparing air quality in other cities around the world. If data is unavailable for all 6 pollutants, a figure can still be calculated by using what figures there are. There were just two pollutants measured in Douai, which were PM2.5 - 16 µg/m³ and PM10 - 24.1 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is just over one and a half times over the recommended safe level of 10 µg/m³ as suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being an acceptable level. Although no amount of air pollution is considered to be safe.

When air pollution is from this “Moderate” bracket the given advice would be to remain indoors as much as possible, closing doors and windows to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. Those who are more sensitive to poor quality air should avoid venturing outside until it improves. If this is unavoidable, then a good quality face mask should be worn at all times. All types of outdoor exercise should be avoided until the air quality improves. There is a downloadable app from AirVisual.com which is suitable for all operating systems and gives the latest information regarding air quality in real-time.

Does the level of air pollution vary much throughout the year in Douai?

Air quality can be affected by many variables, therefore it can and does change quickly. Looking back at the 2020figures published by IQAir.com it can be seen that for five months of the year the WHO target figure of less than 10 µg/m³ was achieved. The months were split throughout the year with the cleanest month being October with a reading of 6.9 µg/m³. The months of February and June returned air quality from the “Good” bracket with figures between 10.1 and 12 µg/m³. The remaining five months saw air classified as “Moderate” with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. Overall, the dirtiest month was April with a reading of 20.6 µg/m³.

Records for air quality were first kept in 2017 when a figure of 13.5 µg/m³ was recorded. A slight deterioration was seen in 2018 when the figure fir that year was 15.0 µg/m³. A noticeable improvement was seen in 2019 when the annual average was 12.3 µg/m³. All of these figures are from the “Moderate” bracket, but in 2020 air quality improved so much that it was recorded as being “Good” with a low reading of 12 µg/m³.

This low figure was to be expected because it may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as many vehicles were no longer in daily use because the offices were closed, in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Many factories and non-essential production units were also required to close which removed their emissions from the atmosphere, albeit on a temporary basis. Worldwide, cities reported a much better quality of air due to the general lack of traffic pollution in city centres due to the pandemic.

Is there a main source of air pollution in Douai?

The cause is first to be sought on the side of road transport, the main source of pollution, before residential heating, industrial activities and agricultural fumes. On a European scale, the costs are due first to particulates (for more than 80 per cent on average), then to nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

Not only is air pollution the number one cause of premature death from environmental factors in Europe, but it has considerable economic repercussions. It increases medical costs and reduces economic productivity due to poor worker health. Air pollution also harms soils, crops, forests, lakes and rivers. Pollutants even damage our homes, bridges and other infrastructure.

Can anything be done to improve air quality in Douai?

Air quality is probably one of the primary health and environmental concerns of this new century. The media are talking about it more and more. And for good reason. We breathe about 15,000 litres of it a day. So, there are plenty of reasons to worry about what goes through our mouths and noses directly into our lungs.

Local sources of particle emissions linked to road traffic and the combustion of biomass have thus been highlighted. The agglomeration has therefore positioned itself in the field of electro-mobility, so as to limit emissions linked to transport. In 2019, they installed 40 charging stations distributed in 13 of the 35 municipalities in the territory.

Its action also affects housing: an air/wood and air/coal fund is being studied, so as to financially help owners who use poor quality wood or coal stoves to renew their equipment.

What are the detrimental effects of breathing polluted air?

Biological agents, such as pollens and moulds, can also be responsible for health effects. In addition, there are several types of interactions between air pollutants and pollen since certain chemical air pollutants can promote the allergic reaction by lowering the threshold of bronchial reactivity and/or by accentuating the irritation of the nasal mucous membranes or ocular and can also act on pollen grains, for example by deforming or breaking the wall of the pollen grain, which would then allow them to penetrate deeper into the respiratory system than whole pollen grains.

The health effects of air pollution observed following exposure lasting from a few hours to a few days (acute, so-called short-term exposure) are as follows: irritation of the eyes or the respiratory tract, asthma attacks, exacerbation of cardiovascular and respiratory disorders that can lead to hospitalisation, and in the most serious cases to death.