Air pollution in the Balkans – independent monitoring
With our own particulate matter (PM) measuring device, we aim to provide independent data on air quality in a few selected sites in the Balkans.
In spite of growing evidence for air pollution from coal and continued protests from citizens in Balkan countries, the European Commission and the Energy Community do not treat air quality as a priority issue. Air quality data is unreliable in most countries in the region and we suspect the monitoring systems are sometimes turned off or placed in irrelevant locations. On this page we provide regularly collected data from a few selected sites.
The data is gathered for at least 30 continuous days from each location. It is therefore indicative and is not intended to replace stationary long-term monitoring. As clearly visible on the map below, most of the power plants are not sufficiently monitored: many of them fall outside the monitoring stations’ range and do not cover all relevant pollutants.
The village is sandwiched between two open cast lignite mines, Roșiuța and Motru (also known as Lupoaia) and is exposed to tremendous levels of coarse particulate matter (PM10) pollution.
There is no official air pollution monitoring station in the village, and the host of our EDM164 monitor has for years submitted requests to the local Environmental Protection Agency to come and perform measurements. The method used by the Agency is empirical – a water bucket which is left to collect dust samples for a month and then the quantity of particles is in theory weighed and calculated if in line with the Air Quality legislation standards.
Graph: PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Roșiuța at different times of day
The spiking green and yellow lines represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent EU level standards as per the Air Quality Directive, for the annual mean.
The visible high levels of coarse particles, PM 10, are indicative of its primary sources: the open-cast mines and open conveyor belts surrounding the village.
There are several hourly PM 10 peaks, with the highest recorded on June 6th, at 6 AM local time, with 648 micrograms per cubic metre. The windrose analysis for that particular time of the day shows the wind was blowing from the south-east, which, in relation to our monitor’s position, indicates that the Motru (or Lupoaia) mine is the source of pollution.
A second PM 10 peak was recorded on June 20th, also at 7 AM local time, of 570 micrograms per cubic metre. In this case, the windrose analysis indicates that the source of the pollution was the Roșiuța lignite mine.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Roșiuța
Over the 32 days of monitoring PM 10 and PM 2.5 emissions in Roșiuța the EU limit on PM 10 was exceeded on 23 days and on 4 of these days, the levels recorded were above double the daily limit. Over the course of one year, only 35 daily average exceedences are allowed.
The EU annual limit on PM 2.5 was exceeded on 6 of the 32 days of monitoring.
Backgroud: The Serbian government is planning a new 350 MW unit at its Kostolac lignite power plant.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Drmno, Serbia
This graph shows the average PM 10 and 2.5 levels over a 24-hour period.
The WHO recommended 24-hour limit for PM2.5 was exceeded on 3 of the 28 days of observation. The Serbian 24 hour limit for PM 10 (50 micrograms/m3) was exceeded on 7 days over the observation, or on 25% of the time. it noteworthy that the measurements have been carried out at a time when household heating was no longer needed and nor was the temperature inversion phenomenon present.
Over the course of one year, the PM 10 limit may be exceeded no more than 35 times, while the PM2.5 limit cannot be exceeded at all.
Graph: hourly values of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in Drmno, Serbia at different times of day.
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent the World Health Organisation recommended limit for PM2.5, and the limit set out by the national law on air quality for PM10, respectively.
The graph of hourly measurements shows some high PM 10 peaks, with the highest recorded on 17 April at 18:00 (187.73 micrograms/m3), followed by the morning of 24 April at 7:00 (150 micrograms/m3), and on 26 April at 19:00 (140.33 micrograms/m3. The wind direction analysis for these peaks showed, based on the location of the air pollution equipment and the meteorological data provided by the machine, that all PM10 spikes originated from the direction of the local coal-fired power plant, Kostolac B3 and the coal conveyor belt, transporting coal from the mine to the power-plant.
Our monitoring device, together with the meteorological sensor, was placed about 1 km south-west of the Kostolac B3 power plant and 2.5 km to the ash disposal site.
To the north, there is a conveyor belt, and all the way between 30 and 180 degrees in the diagram is the Drmno open-cast lignite mine.
Therefore, when the wind blows from the north or north-east– as in the top half of the diagram – and the PM10 emissions are high we can point to either the dried ashes blowing from the ash dump in the direction of the village, or to the power plant or to the conveyor belt, all of them being in the way.
Similarly, when the wind is blowing from the east, the right hand-side of the diagram) the dust blown most likely originates from the open-cast lignite mine.
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Graph: hourly values of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in Gacko, Bosnia and Herzegovina at different times of day. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent the World Health Organisation recommended limit for PM2.5 and PM2.5
The graph of hourly measurements shows some high PM 10 and PM2.5 peaks, with the highest recorded on 22 November at 23:00 (112.4 micrograms/m3 for PM10, and 64.8 micrograms/m3 for PM2.5), the following morning at 8:00 (125 micrograms/m3 for PM10, and 87.5 micrograms/m3 for PM2.5) and the absolute highest, on 23 November at 20:00 (142.5 micrograms/m3 for PM10 and 127.8 micrograms/m3 for PM.25). The wind direction analysis for these peaks showed, based on the location of the air pollution equipment, that the first pollution spike, on 22 November, originated at the local coal-fired power plant, the second at the coal mine, and both the power plant and mine were the source of the peak on the evening of 23 November.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Gacko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
This graph shows the average PM 10 and 2.5 levels over a 24-hour period.
The WHO recommended 24-hour limit for both PM10 and PM2.5 was exceeded on 4 of the 10 days of observation. The air quality legislation in Republika Srpska has no 24-hour limit for PM2.5 and the annual average is set at 15 times the WHO’s recommendation.
Graph: hourly values of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in Tuzla, BiH at different times of day. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
Observation period: 10-18 Oct 2017
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent the EU limit for PM10, and the World Health Organisation recommended limit for PM2.5
The graph of hourly measurements shows numerous PM10 and PM2.5 spikes, namely 167 out of the total of 203 hours measured for PM10, and 181 exceedences for PM2.5. The highest PM10 peak was an eye-watering 937 micrograms/ m3 on 11 October at 5AM, almost 20 times above the limit. Record breaking values of PM10 have also been recorded on 18 October, 8AM – 632 micrograms/m3, followed by 500 micrograms/m3 on 15 October at 8AM.
Interestingly, while PM10 values seem at their highest in the early morning, PM2.5 peaks have been recorded predominantly in the evenings. The top 4 hourly values of PM2.5 were on 17 October, between 6 and 9PM, ranging between 129 and 141 micrograms/ m3.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Tuzla, BiH. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
This graph shows the average PM 10 and 2.5 levels over a 24-hour period. The EU limit for PM 10 and the WHO recommended limit for PM2.5 were both blatantly exceeded on all days of measurements. Over the course of one year, the PM 10 limit may be exceeded no more than 35 times.
Monitoring period: 6 October – 14 November 2016
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The curved lines show the trend over the observation period. The straight horizontal lines represent EU level standards as per the Air Quality Directive.
As the trendlines illustrate, the average pollution levels are constantly above EU limits. The peaks during night time suggest that the Tuzla power plant’s pollution filters might not be functioning properly in the evening.
The daily averages of the pollution levels show how the legal limit for PM 10 in Bosnia and Herzegovina was exceeded on 25 days out of 41 days with measurements (or 61 per cent).
Background on the energy sector in Macedonia can be found here.
Graph: PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Bitola at different times of day.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Bitola.
The PM2.5 limit has been above the EU’s annual average on 7 out of 29 days observed, or on 25% of times. While the Macedonian law on air quality does not have a limit for PM2.5, the EU legislation does not allow any exceedence of the annual limit for PM2.5.
PM10 daily average was breached on 5 days out of 39 observed. Over the course of one year, the PM10 limit may be exceeded for no more than 35 times. If in June – a month when the government’s preferred culprits, individual wood stoves, have not contributed to this pollution – Bitola recorded 5 exceedences, 35 seems like a distant wish. The observation period was also one when schools are on holiday and already people are leaving town for their summer vacation, so traffic numbers are lower than usual. Which only leaves the elephant in the room to blame – the Bitola coal power plant.
The village, situated near the exiting Rovinari lignite power plant, has been exposed for years to extreme air pollution, originating from the power plant, the two open-pit mines which surround it and the illegal coal storage nearby. The locals have been promised resettlement since 2007, but the mining company has not made any progress in this regard, as the mines are not envisaged to expand towards the village, resettlement is not a priority.
Graph: PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Rosia de Jiu at different times of day.
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent EU level standards as per the Air Quality Directive.
Distinctly different from the previous locations is that the hourly measurements shows large differences between concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5. In other locations, PM 2.5 represented approximately 75% – 80% of the PM 10 emissions, while in Rosia de Jiu this is clearly not the case. The high levels of coarse particles, PM 10, are indicative of its primary sources: the open-cast mine, the coal deposit, open conveyor belts and unpaved road to the mine. PM 2.5 emissions are linked with combustion processes and should therefore always be measures in places where coal power plants operate.
There are several hourly PM 10 peaks, with the highest recorded on May 2, at 10PM local time, with 1783 micrograms per cubic metre. During seven hours of the observation period the PM 10 concentration has been above 1000 µg/m3. This is 20 times above the EU limit. The graph also illustrates how the PM 10 levels peak most around 8AM local time when work starts at the nearby lignite mine, or around 1PM when the shifts change. Even though PM 2.5 levels fade in comparison to the PM 10 ones, they have shown peaks of over 100 µg/m3 on 43 instances.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Rosia de Jiu.
Over the 30 days of monitoring PM 10 and PM 2.5 emissions in Rogojel, it was only on two days that the EU limit on PM 10 was not exceeded. In other words, in over 93 percent of the time, the PM 10 concentration was above the limit, while on nine of the days monitored, the measured PM 10 stayed four times above the regulated 24-hour average.
The EU limit on PM 2.5 was exceeded on 23 of the 30 days of monitoring.
Background: Air pollution in Pernik is caused by the nearby lignite power plant and the domestic use of coal for household heating. There are no plans in the immediate future to tackle the pollution, nor to retrofit the aged power plant, in spite of a recent infringement procedure initiated by the European Court of Justice against Bulgaria.
TConsidering that during the observation period the weather was warm and heating was less needed, high pollution levels were likely not caused by individual household using coal for heating. The only remaining cause is the 180MW Pernik Power plant.
Graph: PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Pernik at different times of day. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The straight horizontal lines represent EU level standards as per the Air Quality Directive.
The graph of hourly measurements shows high PM 10 peaks, with the highest recorded on April 12, at 3AM, with 409 micrograms per cubic metre. The graph also illustrates big discrepancies between the levels recorded during daytime and night time, which may point to the dust filters of the nearby power plant not functioning properly or at all. The trend over the observed period shows an increase in PM10 levels every day after 7PM, lasting until 8AM the following morning. PM 2.5 levels spiked on a number of occasions and are on average above the EU annual limit more often than not.
Graph: Daily average of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in Pernik. (Click on image to see higher resolution.)
This graph shows the average PM 10 and 2.5 levels over a 24-hour period. The EU limit on PM 10 was exceeded on 13 of the 19 days observed, or 68 per cent of the time. Over the course of one year, the PM 10 limit may be exceeded no more than 35 times.
The EU limit on PM 2.5 was exceeded on 10 of the 19 days of monitoring.
Pljevlja is home to the only lignite power plant in Montenegro with both the coal mine and the power plant within 2 kilometers from the town. These facilities, combined with the heavy use of cheap coal for household heating create a toxic cloud engulfing Pljevlja throughout the year.
Our second round of monitoring in Pljevlja took place during January-February 2019. We monitored PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations over a 30-day period. Ironically enough, the data for many of the monitored days is incomplete due to constant power outages in the hosts’ house. Also, “favorable” weather conditions were driving air pollution away from the monitoring station. However, collected data over the observation period still shows occasional breaches of limit values and high hourly values.
According to collected measurements, the 24-hour limit of 50 micrograms/m3 for coarse particles (PM10) was exceeded on 6 days of the 30 days. On those days hourly measurements going from 150 up to 290 micrograms/m3 were recorded.
Measured dust in large part consisted of fine particles (PM2.5) which is usually a sign that the dust emissions are produced by combustion. The EU does not have a 24-hour limit for PM2.5, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends only three exceedances over 25 micrograms/m3 per calendar year. This limit was breached on 14 of the 30 days with hourly values regularly reaching over 100 micrograms/m3.
Monitoring period: 22 December 2016 – 15 January 2017
The thin vertical bars represent hourly mean values for PM 2.5 and PM 10. The curved lines show the trend over the observation period. The straight horizontal lines represent EU level standards as per the Air Quality Directive.
The graph of hourly measurements shows high PM 10 peaks, with the highest recorded on Christmas day at eight in the morning, at 294.15 micrograms per cubic metre. Similarly PM 2.5 levels spiked on a number of occasions and are on average above the EU annual limit more often than not. The highest levels of PM2.5 recorded came on 13 January between midnight and one in the morning, standing at 238.85 and 206.16 μg/m3, respectively.
This graph shows the average PM 10 and 2.5 levels over a 24-hour period. The EU limit on PM 2.5 was exceeded on 29 of the 35 days observed, or 83 per cent of the time. The EU’s directive on air quality, which has been transposed in Montenegrin legislation, does not allow for any exceedance of the PM 2.5 limits.
The PM 10 daily average was breached on 21 of the 35 days observed. Over the course of one year, the PM 10 limit may be exceeded no more than 35 times. With half of winter still to come, and locals’ observation that air quality doesn’t improve much during the rest of the year, it is inevitable that more than 14 days will exceed PM10 limits.
Sajókápolna is a small village in the centre of BAZ county in north-eastern Hungary. The entire region has a long tradition of coal mining, with dozens of underground and open-cast coal mines operating throughout the last two centuries. Coal is also one of the main energy sources for household heating in smaller settlements, which inevitably results in deteriorating air quality. The location is a perfect example how burning cheap lignite for household heating damages air quality and seriously contributes to greenhouse gas emissions even in a remote village surrounded by forests.
We monitored the air quality in Sajókápolna over a 28-day period. During the observed time, the EU 24-hour average limit of 50 micrograms/m3 for coarse particles (PM10) was exceeded on 5 days. It may not sound like much, but the EU Directive on Ambient Air Quality actually allows only 35 exceedances in a year. With additional mines in the pipeline, the air quality will most certainly worsen.
For fine particles (PM 2.5), the EU Air Quality Directive does not have a 24-hour average limit, only an annual one, which in theory should never be crossed. The World Health Organisation, however, does have a 24-hour average limit of 25 micrograms/m3 and this limit was breached on 18 days, or 64 % of the observed time.
The Novaci municipality is home to Macedonia’s REK Bitola complex consisting of a 675 MW lignite power plant, a large part of mines and ash disposal sites. Spread out to the east of the village, they create a high concentration of polluters on a small area. Novaci and several other surrounding villages are taking the main blow, but they are still not monitored by the national air quality monitoring network.
In November-December 2018, we monitored air quality in Novaci over a 30-day period. The measurements show that the limit values for both coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) particles were exceeded almost every day.
The 50 micrograms/m3 daily average limit for PM10 was exceeded on 22 days in one month. This makes up nearly ⅔ of what is allowed for the whole year – 35 exceedances. Half of those exceedances were two or more times over the limit. A deeper analysis of the results shows hourly mean values up to 400 micrograms/m3, with short-time values regularly going up to 800 micrograms/m3.
The daily average limit for fine particles (PM2.5) recommended by the World Health Organisation is 25 micrograms/m3, and only three exceedances per one calendar year are allowed. During the observed period, we registered 27 exceedances, with values going up to three times above this limit and pushing a monthly average to 47 micrograms/m3 during the observation period.
December 7 saw the highest hourly average of PM10 values. The wind direction analysis between 15:00 and 23:00, when the peaks were recorded , shows the wind blowing from the east, where REK’s mining and ash disposal facilities are located. The same repeats on December 2, between 16:00 and 22:00, the day with the second highest PM10 spikes.
Stanari power plant is owned by EFT Rudnik i Termoelektrana Stanari d.o.o., a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered EFT Investments SE. The power station is located near the Stanari coal mine, which is located approximately 70 kilometres east of Banja Luka in Republika Srpska. It is the first privately-owned power plant in the Western Balkan region. Originally the project was planned and permitted to be 420 MW, using supercritical technology, but was later changed to 300 MW and lower efficiency subcritical technology. No updated EIA was carried out based on the new plans.
We monitored the dust pollution in Stanari between 4 July and 1 August 2019. The chosen location was at a similar distance from the power plant and from the mine in order to try and evaluate how they are impacting air quality separately.
As can be seen from the graphs below, and as was expected for the summer period, there were not many breaches of the PM10 and PM2.5 limit values – the national (and EU) 24-hour limit for PM10 was exceeded twice and so was the WHO recommended 24-hour limit for PM2.5 – but short-term dust pollution peaks were alarming.
Analysis of the results reveals that the ash disposal site, the lignite mine and the conveyor belts, spread out north of the location of where the dust monitor was installed, are an enormous source of particulate matter pollution. Every time the wind was blowing from the side of the mine, the monitor recorded high peaks of pollution regularly going over 300 micrograms/m3 – with the highest one on the morning of 17 July reaching 828 micrograms/m3.
Simnicu de Sus is a small village several kilometers north of Craiova – the biggest city in Romania’s lignite region. The wider city area is home to two coal-fired power plants, Ișalnița and Craiova II, with installed capacity of 630 MW and 300 MW respectively. They dominate the landscape of the city– especially the Ișalnița power plant with its 200 metre high chimney. What is not so easy to see, but which are an inevitable component of all coal-fired power plants, are their ash disposal sites, one of which is located on the hill above Șimnicu de Sus.
Coal facilities can contribute to air pollution in many ways. Although the emissions from the power plants are visible and strictly regulated in the legislation, this is not usually the case with pollution to the air from coal mines and ash disposals. In an effort to get more details on these occurrences of flying ash, we monitored the dust concentrations in Șimnicu de Sus for a total of 45 days between 14 September and 28 October 2019.
The established limit values for PM10 are a 50 µg/m³ 24-hour average – which cannot be exceeded on more than 35 days in one calendar year – and a 40 µg/m³ annual average. For PM2.5, the Directive has only an annual limit of 25 µg/m³. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a health protective 24-hour limit at 25 µg/m³ that should not be exceeded on more than 3 days in one calendar year.
These 24-hour limit values were exceeded on a significant number of days during our 45-day monitoring period. The 50 µg/m³ 24-hour limit for PM10 was breached on 14 days with an increasing trend in the 24-hour concentrations starting from mid-October. Assuming this trend continues, the limit of 35 exceedances seems impossible to achieve during one year.
PM2.5 daily mean concentrations compared to the WHO 24-hour limit show 17 breaches of this limit. Their trend also increased starting from mid-October, when we began to get regular 24-hour values two times higher than this health protective limit value recommended by the WHO.
By using wind direction to determine possible sources of air pollution, there are some cases where the ash disposal site, spread out east of the monitoring location (50-140° on the graphs), can be singled out as a major source. The most obvious ones are on 16th and 20th September, but similar results emerged on several other days.
