Air quality in Brno

What is the current level of air pollution in Brno?

Brno is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It sits at the convergence of two large rivers, the Svitava River and the Svratka River. A census was conducted at the beginning of this year (2021) which found the population was approximately 385,000 people. This increases to 606,000 residents in the entire metropolitan area. As such, it can be ranked as the second-largest city in the Czech Republic after the capital, Prague.

During December 2021, Brno was enjoying a period of “Good” quality air with a US AQI reading of 29. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most prolific 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. In Brno, five of these pollutants were measured. These were; PM2.5 - 7 µg/m³, PM10 - 8 µg/m³, ozone (O₃) - 36.6 µg/m³, - sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 1.8 µg/m³ and carbon monoxide (CO) - 286.1 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 quality is in the “Good” bracket, doors and windows can safely be opened to allow a stream of fresh, clean air to enter the room. All types of outdoor activity can be freely enjoyed without fear of dirty air.

Does the level of air quality remain the same throughout the year in Brno?

Air quality is very volatile as it can easily be affected by many things and is therefore very difficult to predict.

According to figures for 2020 released by IQAir.com, Brno achieved the target figure of being less than 10 µg/m³ as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), for six months of the year. These months were February and From May until the end of September. The cleanest month was July with a reading of 7.4 µg/m³. October returned a “Good” classification with a figure of 11.8 µg/m³. The remaining five months provided air quality from the “Moderate” bracket with readings between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³.

Historically, records have been kept since 2017 when a figure of 18.8 µg/m³ was noted. A slight decline was witnessed in 2018 with a reading of 20.4 µg/m³, but then 2019 saw an improvement with a figure of 15.7 µg/m³. Last year in 2020 saw another improvement when the reading was 13.5 µg/m³. However, this reading may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic 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, albeit on a temporary basis.

Is there a main source of air pollution in Brno?

The number of cars in the Czech Republic, has been growing for over 20 years. In total, almost five million of them go here, of which one million in Prague alone. This unhappy situation has a detrimental effect not only on the air quality in the largest cities, but also on the health of their inhabitants. Prague, Brno and other Czech cities have long exceeded the hygienic standards determining the limit of airborne dust. Due to high traffic in cities, the ubiquitous nitrogen dioxide means an increased risk of respiratory diseases for children due to reduced immunity to infection and reduced lung function.

According to a recent report, increased values of arsenic, dust and other substances are also found in localities with a majority of small sources for solid or fossil fuels. In this context, it is therefore possible to appreciate the regular announcement of regional subsidies for the replacement of old boilers with new ones, which are always of great interest.

Can anything be done to improve air quality in Brno?

Eighty-eight new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses will be added to Brno next year. Overall, support for this alternative is on the rise in the Czech Republic today, both in public and passenger transport.

But now is perhaps the highest time to come up with a similar (perhaps subsidy) program for transport as well. There has also been talk for years of shifting freight to rail, but basically nothing has happened yet. Likewise, there are still no subsidies in our country for the purchase of cars with alternative propulsion.

In the project " Monitoring and measures to improve air quality in the city of Brno " they directly established cooperation with the Statutory City of Brno and will map air pollution in Brno through temporary mobile measurements. Mobile measuring stations will capture the concentration of pollutants in certain localities within one year and thus help to more accurately identify sources of pollution and their significance (e.g., localities near roads or railways, incinerators, etc.). The project will also measure the individual air pollution load of residents traveling to work or school, who will carry small mobile sensors. These sensors detect how much a particular person is exposed to polluted air when moving around the city.

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

Polluted air negatively affects our cognitive and intelligence abilities. The consequences can be the same as the year of missed studies. This is the main conclusion of the new study. Researchers have previously found that dirty air increases the risk of premature birth, autism and various forms of dementia.

It has long been known that polluted air can adversely affect our physical health, for example in the form of lung and heart disease or cancer. But dirty air can also damage our mental and mental health and negatively affect our cognitive abilities.