TIRANA, Aug. 31 – Tirana tops Albania’s air and noise pollution city list, exceeding EU and World Health Organization limits by up to two times, but the surprise second most polluted city is Korà§a, the biggest city in southeast Albania whose pollution is mainly seasonal due to massive burning of firewood for home heating during winter.
An annual report by the National Environment Agency says the situation in Tirana is more problematic about air pollution which exceeds EU limits by 2 times and less concerning about noise whose levels exceed WHO limits by only about a quarter.
Experts say both high air and noise levels pose a threat to the health of the capital city’s more than half a million residents.
The situation is also problematic in Elbasan, central Albania, where the country’s largest steel plant operates and in the southeastern city of Korà§a, especially during winter when households massively burn firewood for home heating.
A city of some 76,000 residents, Korà§a faces one of the country’s coldest winter days and firewood is massively used as a cheaper alternative to electricity, although the 10-year wood cutting moratorium Albania imposed in 2016 to protect remaining woods after decades of illegal logging and clearing for agriculture has significantly increased firewood prices.
“Tirana continues to remain Albania’s most polluted city. Korà§a is also problematic but only during winter because of heating with firewood,” says Julian Beqiri, the head of National Environment Agency.
Monitoring has revealed PM10 particulates in Tirana exceed the daily limit value of 50 micrograms/cubic meter (50 µg/m3) by 73 days in Tirana and 65 days in Korà§a at a time when under EU standards the daily limit should not be exceeded on more than 35 days in a calendar year.
Tirana also tops the country’s noise pollution levels.
“After air quality, noise poses the second biggest threat to human health. Tirana remains the most problematic city with noise levels exceeding World Health Organization limits by about 17 percent during the day and 25 percent at night,” says the National Environmental Agency.
Air pollution figures in Albania remain among the highest in Europe, according to the recently-released 2016 report on air quality by the European Environment Agency.
About 2,120 people died in 2016 in Albania due to air pollution, of whom 2,010 were victims of high concentrations of fine particles in the air, 10 of nitrogen dioxide concentration and 100 of the ozone concentration, says the report by Denmark-based European Environment Agency, an EU watchdog.
