Air pollution in Romania is an astonishing five times above safety levels making it one of the most polluted countries in Europe, a report by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir says.
The World Air Quality Report, released this week, uses the data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations in 134 countries, territories, and regions.
The air in 124 countries exceeded safety levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. PM2.5 particles are breathed in and ave been linked to heart and lung disease, high blood pressure, increased risk of asthma, depression and anxiety, and premature death.
In Europe, Moldova, Romania, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, and Montenegro had a pollution level up to five times above safe levels.
Only ten countries met the safety guideline of five micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3). They were Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, and New Zealand. Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and French Polynesia also fell within safe levels.
Iceland has the cleanest air in Europe, with 4µg/m3, followed by Estonia with 4.7µg/m3 and Finland with 4.9µg/m3.
Pollution in Bucharest is ranked at 55, or ‘moderately polluted.” Belgrade, Warsaw, Kyiv and Milan have higher levels of pollution than the Romanian capital.
Pollution by the high number of vehicles on the roads, especially older ones. Coal-fired power plants, factories, and the removal of green areas to build new buildings and developments have also led to a deteriorating air quality.
However, European cities have improved since the 2022 report, with 54% classified with safe levels of air pollution in 2023 compared with 39% the year before. Croatia showed the most progress in 2023 in lowering PM2.5 levels, with the annual average dropping more than 40% compared to 2022.
EU countries with pollution levels up to three times above the safe standard included Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Cyprus, Slovenia and Italy.
Bosnia and Herzegovina saw an 18% decrease in PM2.5 levels in 2023 compared to 2022 but remains the most polluted country in the region, followed by North Macedonia.
The countries with the worst air quality in the world were in South and Central Asia. Bangladesh took the top spot, with 79.9 µg/m3 – more than 15 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Pakistan came in second, with levels 14 times above safe standards.
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