Air quality in Nis

What is the air quality index of Nis?

Niš is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Nišava District. After a census in 2011, the population was listed as being 260,237 people.

In early 2021, Nis was experiencing “Moderate “quality air with a US AQI figure of 92. This is according to suggested levels by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The concentration of PM2.5 was 31.7 µg/m³, for PM10 it was 29.2 µg/m³ and for ozone (O₃) it was 13.4 µg/m³.

What is the main source of air pollution in Nis?

The most probable cause of high concentrations of harmful particles is the use of poor quality coal, fuel oil and heating oil. In November 2020 Nis was declared to be the dirtiest city in Serbia due to a sharp rise in pollutant levels of PM2.5 and PM10.

At the measuring station at the Institute of Public Health, the highest level of PM2.5 particles was 190 µg/m³. At the same time, the concentration of PM10 particles was 192 µg/m³. At the measuring station near the elementary school "Sveti Sava", the highest values of harmful particles in the air were measured when the concentration of PM10 reached 210 µg/m³, and PM2.5 was 171 µg/m³. This meant that in Nis, the concentration of these harmful particles was up to eight times higher than allowed. The increased concentration of PM10 particles poses a health hazard, especially for the elderly, the chronically ill, children and pregnant women. And PM2.5 particles are even more dangerous, because, it is explained, they can reach the deepest parts of the lungs, the smallest airways and the alveoli.

What is the pollution level in Nis?

Nis was the second most polluted city in Serbia in 2019 with only Valjevo beating it to pole position. Throughout the year, the average classification was that of “Moderate” with levels between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. It attained this level from April until the end of November whereupon the quality deteriorated to “Unhealthy” with figures between 55.5 and 150.4 µg/m³ for December, January and February. For the month of June, Nis attainted the WHO target figure of less than 10 µg/m³.

Is air pollution in Nis getting better or worse?

Since 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency has been measuring and recording air quality in Serbia and issuing annual reports. And it has been measuring the amount of PM10 and PM2.5 particles - which are the most harmful. If we compare the current data with the previous records it is seen that the air quality has not been satisfactory for years, the pollution is still a big problem.

PM10 particles exceeded the limit values at almost all measuring points for years, while PM2.5 particles remained within normal limits in some places.

Air quality in the reports is measured in three categories. The first category is clean or slightly polluted and the limit values for none of the pollutants are exceeded. The second group is for moderately polluted air and the limit values of pollutants are exceeded, but the tolerance values are not exceeded. The third category is for excessively polluted air which exceeds the limit values for one or more pollutants.

In Nis, the air in 2018 was in the first category, but it was noted that it fell into that category due to the insufficient volume of PM10 particle measurements.

That city had the air of the first category in 2013, 2014 and 2016, while in 2010, 2011 and 2017, the residents of Nis breathed the air of the third category. The second category of air was valid in 2012.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Nis?

In a city like Nis, which is located in a valley where there is no wind to dissipate that smog, those who have asthma, bronchitis or obstructive pulmonary disease are the first to be bothered in the winter months. It is noted that twice as many patients complain of respiratory problems during the colder winter months.

What are the effects of breathing Nis’s poor quality air?

It is said that exposure to outdoor air pollution can be associated with a large number of acute and chronic health conditions, from mild irritation to premature death, and that most research has been done in the field of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, children under the age of 14 years, the elderly and the chronically ill, are particularly affected. Research has shown that exposure to polluted air over a longer period of time has a greater impact on disease than ingestion of polluted water or food.

For a correct diagnosis, a doctor should, in addition to medical, take into account environmental factors, especially if the air quality in the area where the patient lives is measured and analysed over a long period of time.

Although our respiratory system is designed to absorb the harmful effects, chronic exposure is still very problematic. If you imagine that our lungs are a portal between the non-sterile environment around us and the lungs where the environment is already sterile, all that structure in between is made to try to absorb it, to filter, to retain particles, to cough or sneeze. But, when the particles are small enough, when there are a large number of them and when it lasts and lasts, so chronic exposure, that is what is very harmful to people. The most harmful are nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and similar gases.

These microscopic particles of PM2.5 are small enough to bypass the body’s defence system and are inhaled deep into the lungs. Once here, they become lodged in the alveoli which are located at the base of the bronchial tubes. There are approximately 480 million of these cells in an average human. Their job is to take in the inhaled oxygen and pass it into the blood. At the same time, they remove the carbon dioxide from the blood and exhale it when the body breathes out.

It is at this point of exchange that the PM2.5 particles pass into the bloodstream and circulate the body where they eventually end up in the heart.