Air quality in Ostrava

Is Ostrava a very polluted city just now?

Ostrava is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. The city lies 15 kilometres from the Polish border where four rivers converge making a very strategic crossing point.

During December of 2021, Ostrava was enjoying a period of “Good” quality air with a US AQI reading of just 21. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most commonly occurring air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. It can then be used as the metric when comparing air quality in other cities around the world. If data is unavailable for all 6 pollutants, a figure can still be calculated by using what figures there are. Ostrava measured all six of the major pollutants which were; PM2.5 - 3 µg/m³, PM10 - 5.5 µg/m³, ozone (O₃) - 52.5 µg/m³, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) - 12.3 µg/m³, sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 4 µg/m³ and carbon monoxide (CO) - 0.3 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is within the recommended safe level of 10 µg/m³ as suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being an acceptable level. Although no amount of air pollution is considered to be safe.

When air pollution is classified as being “Good”, doors and windows can be safely opened to allow the flow of fresh air to enter the house. All forms of outdoor activities can be enjoyed without fear of detrimental effects of air pollution.

For up-to-date information about air quality, there is an app available from AirVisual.com which is downloadable for all mobile devices.

Does the level of air pollution remain constant throughout the year in Ostrava?

Air pollution can be affected by many variables; therefore, it can change very quickly depending on meteorological and atmospheric conditions.

Looking back at the figures for 2020, published by IQAir.com, it can be seen that three months of the year returned “Good” quality air with readings between 10 and 12 µg/m³. These three months were February, June and July. The remaining nine months returned figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³ from the “Moderate” category. The best month being May with a reading of 12.2 µg/m³, the worst being December with a 26.4 µg/m³ reading.

Historically, records have been kept regarding air pollution since 2017 when a figure of 27.8 was noted. A decline in quality was seen in 2018 when that figure was 30.1 µg/m³. A marked improvement was seen in 2019 with a reading of 20.9 µg/m³ before another improvement in 2020 when the figure was 16.6 µg/m³. However, this reading may have been affected by the COVID-19 situation as many vehicles were no longer in daily use because the offices were closed, in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Many factories and non-essential production units were also required to close which removed their emissions from the atmosphere.

Is there a main source of the air pollution in Ostrava?

Although air quality has been significantly improved in Ostrava in recent years, this topic is one of the most current environmental problems. The reasons are the number and yield of emission sources (industry, local heating, transport) and the frequent occurrence of unfavourable air pollution situations in the winter months (connection with geographical, climatic and meteorological conditions).

A significant source of pollution, which manifests itself especially in winter in smog situations, is the transfer of harmful substances from neighbouring Poland. The research of the Health Institute in Ostrava states that the share of Polish local heating in the total air pollution concentrations of PM10 near the border can reach up to 47 percent on the Czech side. In the Ostrava region, during periods of smog situations, emissions from Poland may account for up to two thirds of pollution.

Locally, i.e., in the immediate vicinity of large industrial enterprises, the influence of industry on air pollution prevails. For example, 70 per cent of pollution in the Ostrava district of Radvanice and Bartovice still comes from industry, because a large smelter is located in its immediate vicinity. The largest metallurgical plant in the Czech Republic, has been postponing the necessary measures for improvement for many years, makes a significant contribution to the catastrophic state of the air. Measurements show that hygienic limits are exceeded by hundreds of percent throughout the year.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Ostrava?

Thanks to the slowdown in industry and investment in the greening of large sources, emissions have dropped significantly by more than 90 per cent since 1989. There are now six self-collection road sweepers, which remove hundreds of tons of dust and rubbish from Ostrava throughout the year. Dust removal from city roads is one of a series of steps that lead to improved air quality in Ostrava.

Billions of crowns invested in reducing emissions from steel plants led to a significant decrease in harmful emissions into the air in the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Ostrava has changed significantly since the last of the local mines closed almost thirty years ago. The city is also moving in a more ecological direction in the area of transport. Passengers no longer use paper tickets in public transport and should not be able to take a diesel bus from the middle of 2021. The Ostrava transport company wants to completely decommission them.

What are the health impacts of breathing dirty air in Ostrava?

Ostrava has become a pan-European symbol of air pollution. Dissatisfaction with the situation caused mainly by the concentration of heavy industry is expressed by 93 per cent of the population; and identifies polluted air and insufficient environmental protection as an urgent problem.

The air you breathe can affect your mental health. And if you already suffer from mental health problems, the dirty air is likely to make them worse. At least that's what the study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry says. They encourage states to think about ways in which air quality could be improved. Smog also has a negative impact on the occurrence of anxiety or intelligence.