Air quality in Slavonski Brod

What is the current level of air pollution in Slavonski Brod?

Slavonski Brod is commonly shortened to simply Brod. It is a city in eastern Croatia near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to a census conducted in 2011, the estimated population was approximately 60,000 people. This ranks it as the seventh largest city in the country. It is located on the Sava River 197 kilometres south east of Zagreb and as such is a major river port.

During the third quarter of 2021, Slavonski Brod was experiencing a period of “Moderate” quality air with a US AQI reading of 60. This United States Air Quality Index figure is worked out by taking note of the recorded levels of six of the most prolific air pollutants. These may include, both diameters of PM (PM10, PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide. If figures are not available for all six, a level can still be calculated by using what information there is. It can then be used as a metric when comparing one city with another, anywhere in the world. In the case of Slavonski Brod there were two pollutants that were recorded those being PM2.5 - 16.2 µg/m³ and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 4.8 µg/m³. The level of PM2.5 can be seen to be one and a half times higher than the target figure of 10 µg/m³, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is considered to be an acceptable level although no amount of air pollution can be considered as being safe.

Although this level of pollution is not extreme, the offered advice would be to stay indoors and close all windows and doors to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. Those who are more sensitive to poor air quality should avoid venturing outdoors until the situation improves. There is an app available from AirVisual which can be downloaded to any mobile device which gives up-to-the-minute details about air quality. This should help with that decision.

Does the air quality in Slavonski Brod vary much throughout the year?

Air quality can be affected by many things and can change quickly as dictated by atmospheric and meteorological conditions.

Looking back at the 2020 figures published by IQAir.com, it can be seen that the months of December and January saw the worst air quality when it was classified as being “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” with readings of 38.6 and 51.9 µg/m³, respectively. For the remaining 10 months of the year, the air quality was classed as “Moderate” with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The best month being June with a reading of 12.7 µg/m³. The dirtiest month was March with a 25.1 µg/m³ figure.

Records for air quality were first kept in 2017 when an annual average figure was 36.9 µg/m³. The following year saw a large improvement at 26 µg/m³. In 2019 the recorded figure was 22.1 µg/m³ which again was an improvement as was the following year of 2020 with its figure of 21.4 µg/m³. However, the 2020 figure may be affected because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Many vehicles were taken off the road as their drivers were no longer required to drive to the office each day. There were also several small factories and processing units that were closed temporarily so their emissions were no longer part of the local atmosphere.

Where does the air pollution in Slavonski Brod come from?

Air quality measuring stations in Slavonski Brod have recently been measuring extremely high pollution. The pollution index has been extremely polluted for several days ("in purple"), which means that the air is as much as 10 to 15 times more polluted than allowed. Brodians are forced to continuously inhale extremely high concentrations of suspended particles PM10 and PM2.5, but also worrying concentrations of ozone, benzene and increased concentrations of hydrogen sulphide. They have been waiting for the final solution to this problem for 12 years, still holding the infamous title of the city with the most polluted air in Croatia.

According to the Croatian Environment and Nature Agency, the main reason for poor air quality recently is PM10 suspended particles. There is still no answer as to where the people of Brod get so much pollution from. The Institute of Public Health says that the elevated values of PM10 and PM2.5 particles come from various sources - from pollutants such as the Oil Refinery in neighbouring Brod in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not known whether it is currently working or not, to traffic, domestic stoves or are carried by wind from other locations.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Slavonski Brod?

Croatia and Republika Srpska signed a protocol on cooperation under which Bosanski Brod refinery will be connected to the Croatian gas system. The agreement should reduce cross-border air-pollution that has been at the centre of a dispute between the two countries for a long time. The old oil refinery in Bosanski Brod was sold to the Russian company Zarubezhneft in 2007 which restarted the operation of the old processing line of crude oil with the capacity of 1.2 million metric tons per year. Since 2010 constant higher levels of air pollutant emissions have been measured in Slavonski Brod. But this new move will hopefully put an end to much of that.

What effects does this polluted air have on human health?

Exposure to highly polluted air can have a number of health consequences. The risk of respiratory infections, heart attack, stroke and lung cancer increases. A link has been established between both short-term and long-term exposure to polluted air and heart disease. Those who are already ill are more exposed. Children, the elderly and the poor are more vulnerable. The most harmful pollutants, which are closely related to increased mortality, are fine suspended PM2.5 particles that can penetrate deep into the pulmonary passages. Adverse effects can occur both after short-term (hours, days) and after long-term (months, years) exposure to polluted air.

Adults can suffer from a number of health complications caused by polluted air. Polluted air exacerbates existing cardiovascular disease and is associated with a number of cardiovascular effects such as stroke and heart failure. In addition, there is strong evidence that polluted air causes lung cancer as well as type 2 diabetes.