Poor air quality in Sofia: Municiaplity urges residents to use public transport and to avoid using cars

Sofia Municipality urges residents of the capital city to avoid using cars and to use public transport in a bid to drive down air pollution levels.

The municipality also recommends:

• drivers not to leave the car engine running for more than three minutes
• households that use wood-burning stoves and coal for heating, should if possible use electric heating devices or other environmentally friendly heating.

In connection with this, the Metropolitan Inspectorate is intensifying inspections at car repair shops, construction sites, as well as inspections for unregulated waste burning.

For the past ten days, more than 20 car repair shops, more than 250 construction sites have been checked and four notices for administrative violations have been issued, more than 50 private properties have been checked. The most frequent violations include unregulated burning of waste - chipboard boards and processed motor oils.

Fines for these violations range from 1,400 to 4,000 BGN for individuals, and for legal entities that burn waste, including hazardous waste, the size of fines is from 10,000 to 50,000 BGN, the Metropolitan Inspectorate states.

Doctors advise people with respiratory diseases, as well as small children and the elderly to avoid prolonged stay outdoors. When walking, the recommendations are to choose a route that is not along major city boulevards and busy streets.

The data in the System for Informing the Population on Air Quality at the Executive Agency for the Environment indicate an increase in the levels of fine dust particles in Sofia.

The information for the past 24 hours from the "Sofia-AIS Hippodrome" station shows that as at 2:00 p.m. today, the levels of fine particulate matter surpass 130 µg/m3, a BTA check showed.

The average day-night norm is 50 µg/m3 and should not be exceeded more than 35 times within a calendar year, and the average annual norm is 40 µg/m3, the environment agency’s website states.

The reason for the high particulate matter (PM) levels, surpassing the average daily rate of PM10 in the past days, and probably in the next ones, is the use of solid fuel for household needs and emissions from road transport in combination with unfavorable weather conditions, the agency says and reminds that the pollution has a seasonal nature and during the heating season, more frequent exceedances of fine dust particles can be observed.

Source: BTA