According to European Union criteria, air quality was not safe for health in any location, while the World Health Organization has even stricter recommendations.
The most polluted cities in the former Yugoslavia in 2024, in terms of PM2.5 particles, were Novi Pazar and Sarajevo, according to data from the xEco Air application.
After a week, the dense fog and smog that had covered Serbia and the region mostly dissipated. Visibility improved, but the air remained highly polluted.
This episode marked the end of 2024, a year in which air pollution was worse than the previous year, according to data from state monitoring stations analysed by the National Environmental Association. Their preliminary report is published at the beginning of the following year, whereas the official report from the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is released approximately eight months later.
In Belgrade, the New Year’s Eve fireworks were barely visible, leading many to joke about an "invisible fireworks display." The fireworks also significantly contributed to the concentration of pollutants in the air.
Only Bor and Novi Sad Avoid the Worst Category
The concentration of so-called suspended particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres increased by 3.2% last year, while PM10 rose by as much as 12.9%.
The number of days exceeding the daily limit for PM10 microscopic dust increased by an average of 20 days per monitoring station. Every monitored location except Bor and Novi Sad exceeded the permitted 35 days in the red zone and was classified as having excessively polluted air (Category 3).
Concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) did not exceed limits, as was the case in the previous year, according to the official report of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The annual average nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits were exceeded in Belgrade, specifically in Despota Stefana Street, Franše d’Epere Boulevard, and near Mostar, with the number of days over the limit also high in these locations and in Vračar.
Novi Pazar leads the region
According to data from the xEco Air application, in 2024, 34 state monitoring stations in the former Yugoslavia recorded annual PM2.5 levels above 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air, which is the maximum permitted level in Serbia.
The highest exceedance was recorded in Novi Pazar, followed by the Otoka location in Sarajevo, as well as Šabac and Valjevo. Other highly polluted locations included Brod in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kičevo in North Macedonia, and Bijelo Polje in Montenegro. In Croatia, the worst situation was in Slavonski Brod, ranking 22nd on the overall list.
The highest annual average PM10 concentrations in Serbia were recorded in Popovac, Šabac, Leštane in Belgrade, Novi Pazar, and Valjevo.
In terms of the number of days exceeding the daily average PM10 concentration, Popovac led with 183 days—42 more than in 2023. The second-highest was the Omladinskih Brigada monitoring station in New Belgrade, with 139 days, more than three times the number recorded in the previous year. This station also ranked sixth in terms of annual average pollution levels.
Far from EU standards
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified outdoor air pollution and indoor coal combustion as carcinogenic.
Under the European Union's recently tightened standards for PM concentrations, no monitoring station in Serbia recorded air quality deemed safe for human health. In fact, the World Health Organization has had even stricter recommendations since 2021.
The Serbian government’s Air Protection Programme for the period 2022–2030, with an accompanying action plan, identified PM2.5 particles as having the most severe impact, estimating that they cause 9,773 premature deaths annually. The programme also noted that exposure to these particles results in the loss of more than 2.1 million working days each year.
According to the latest data from the European Environment Agency (EEA), the number of annual premature deaths attributed to PM2.5 pollution in Serbia is 10,800, compared to 1,400 for nitrogen dioxide and 1,500 for ozone.
(EUpravo zato/balkangreenenergynews.com)
