Air quality in Tarnow

What is the level of air pollution in Tarnow now?

Tarnów is a city in south eastern Poland. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east–west connection from Lviv to Kraków, and two additional lines, one of which links the city with the Slovak border. Following a census conducted in 2019, it was stated that Tarnow had an estimated population of approximately 108,470 inhabitants which increased to 269,000 when the entire metropolitan area was taken into account.

Towards the end of the third quarter in 2021, Tarnow was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 53. This United States Air Quality Index figure is used as a metric when comparing one city with another, anywhere in the world. It is calculated by collating the recorded levels of six of the most prolific air pollutants. These can 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. In Tarnow, only the level of PM2.5 was recorded which was 13.1 µg/m³. This level of PM2.5 is slightly higher than the suggested level of 10 µg/m³ which is a level recommended as being acceptable by the World Health Organisation (WHO), although no amount of air pollution is considered to be safe.

With a US AQI reading of 53, it is not a high level of pollution but the given advice would still be to remain inside as much as possible with the doors and windows closed to prevent more dirty air from entering the rooms. Some groups of people are more sensitive to poor air quality so they should take extra care. These people should avoid exercise outdoors until the quality improves. There is a downloadable app from AirVisual which gives the air quality in real-time. This should help you know when it is ok to go outside again.

How much does the air quality vary throughout the year in Tarnow?

Looking back at the figures released by IQAir.com, it is clear to see that the month with the dirtiest air was January with a figure of 37.8 µg/m³. This classified it as being “Unhealthy for sensitive groups”. The best month was July when the figure recorded was 9.8 µg/m³ which is below the 10 µg/m³ WHO target figure. September provided “Good” air quality with its reading of 12 µg/m³. For the remaining nine months of the year the air quality was classed as “Moderate” with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³.

Records relating to air pollution were first kept in 2017 when the annual average was 27.4 µg/m³ and it seems to be getting better as each year passes. In 2018 it was 23.3 µg/m³, followed by 22.5 µg/m³ in 2019 and finally 20.2 µg/m³ in 2020. However, the 2020 figure might be artificially lower because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Many vehicles were not in use as their drivers were asked to work from home in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Some smaller factories and production units were temporarily closed so their emissions ceased.

What is the cause of the air pollution in Tarnow?

The smog in Tarnow does not necessarily come from coal and wood-burning stoves as these are not in use too much as it is not severely cold and they are less in number than a few years ago. Exhaust fumes from vehicles as well as calm weather with only light winds exacerbate the situation until the wind strengthens and cleans the air.

Combustion processes outside the industry, and thus mainly low emissions, are responsible for almost half of the emissions of all PM10 dusts emitted in Poland over the last decade. Road transport resulted in the emission of 9 per cent of PM10 (fuel combustion, abrasion of brakes, tyres and road surfaces). Energy production and industry contributed to PM10 emissions to a similar extent as road transport (9% and 8% respectively).

What is being done to improve the air quality in Tarnow?

In the city, there are ongoing inspections of what the residents are burning in the furnaces. They take place, among others with the use of a specialised drone. Reports come largely from residents concerned about black, suffocating smoke from neighbours’ chimneys. At this point, the laboratory tests the ash samples collected in ten buildings, in terms of whether the furnace has burned plastics or other waste that should not end up in the furnace.

As part of the government's air quality improvement program, the Clean Air priority program was prepared. It is a comprehensive program aimed at reducing or avoiding the emission of dust and other pollutants introduced into the atmosphere by single-family houses.

The program focuses on the replacement of old solid fuel stoves and boilers and the thermo-modernisation of single-family buildings to effectively manage energy. These activities will not only help to protect the environment, but will additionally increase the home budget thanks to financial savings.

The Clean Air Priority Program is an opportunity to obtain financial support, among others for: replacement of an old heating boiler (necessary condition), insulation of the house, replacement of windows and doors or installation of renewable energy sources (in the form of a preferential loan).

What effects do these pollutants have on human health?

Despite the obvious link between exposure to air pollution and respiratory disease, most deaths attributed to air pollution are associated with cardiovascular disease. Increased exposure to pollutants increases the risk of, inter alia, myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac arrest. A particularly strong relationship between exposure to air pollutants (both particulate and gaseous) is observed in ischemic stroke.

Particulate matter is a particularly important substance in the air from the point of view of protecting our health and life. A dust whose particles have an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometres (µm) is termed PM2.5; we define PM10 dust similarly. PM is short for particulate matter.

How strongly dust pollution affects health depends not only on its concentration in the air and the time of exposure (i.e., the total amount of pollution that enters our body), but may also depend on the size, shape and chemical composition of dust particles. The chemical composition of dust, in turn, strongly depends on its origin (source). While there is strong evidence of adverse health effects from fossil fuel or biomass combustion dust, the significance of exposure to mineral dust (dust from soil erosion or desert dust) is less certain. Dust from the combustion of coal, petroleum derivatives or biomass may contain various substances harmful to health, e.g., carcinogenic and mutagenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives. gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and tropospheric ozone formed from nitrogen dioxide in photochemical reactions, also have a harmful effect on health. Usually, we are dealing with simultaneous exposure to gaseous and dust pollutants.