Air quality in Vushtrri

Does Vushtrri have a good level of air quality?

Vushtrri is a city located in the northern region of Kosovo, within Mitrovica district, one of seven unified districts within the country. Looking at its history of air quality, Vushtrri has had some poor readings come up in past years. Over the course of 2020, Vushtrri came in with a PM2.5 average reading of 34.3 μg/m³ as its yearly average, a number that placed it in 8^th place out of all cities ranked across Europe, as well as putting it in 296^th place out of all countries ranked worldwide.

As can be seen, this is an extremely high placing, particularly for a European city. The PM2.5 reading of 34.3 μg/m³ also placed it in the ‘moderate’ pollution ratings bracket, which requires a reading of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to achieve such a classification. This placed it in the higher end of the moderate ratings bracket, putting it very close to moving up into the next pollution rank, namely the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ one (35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ required).

As it is closer to this rating, the air quality throughout the year in Vushtrri may present some health risks for people who have a sensitive disposition towards chemical pollutants and the wide variety of fine particles that can be found in the air of polluted cities. Many months also came in with readings that far exceeded its yearly average, indicating that these time periods would require preventative measures in order to keep certain individuals safe from the ill effects that high levels of pollution can bring.

Some of these preventative measures are actions such as wearing fine particle filtering masks, as well as avoiding outdoor activity, in particular strenuous activity such as exercise. These measures become even more important for the aforementioned at-risk groups, who include people such as young children and babies, as well as the elderly, pregnant woman, and those with pre-existing health conditions or those who have a hypersensitivity towards chemical pollutants.

Looking at the levels of US AQI recorded in late May of 2021, it can be seen that Vushtrri presented with a US AQI reading of 8, a very low reading that fell into the ‘good’ ratings bracket, indicating that at the time this reading was taken, the atmosphere would be exceptionally free from smoke and haze, as well as other air contaminants such as clouds of hazardous particulate matter or smog.

This also shows the sporadic nature of pollution in Vushtrri, which can present with extremely clean readings, and then go all the way up to damaging levels of air quality. Other US AQI readings that were present throughout the month of April and May of 2021 were ones such as 28 and 42, still within the ‘good’ ratings bracket, and higher ones such as 71 and 88, which would be classified under the ‘moderate’ pollution ratings bracket, albeit on the higher end once again.

US AQI is a unit of measurement that takes into account the volumes of main air pollutants present in the atmosphere within Vushtrri, and although variations and novel pollutants may exist (with certain factories giving off their own unique industrial effluence, such as burnt plastic fumes or microplastic particles, along with heavy metal contamination), the US AQI reading is based off of these main pollutants, which will be discussed in further detail at the end of the article.

What are some health issues associated with breathing polluted air in Vushtrri?

Some health issues that may arise as a result of breathing polluted air in Vushtrri would be ones such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an umbrella term that contains within it a number of different respiratory ailments such as pneumonia, emphysema, bronchitis and aggravated forms of asthma.

Others would be irritation or aggravation to the skin, resulting in conditions such as eczema, acne, psoriasis and in severe cases, skin cancer. Due to the extremely small size of PM2.5, as well as the variety of harmful materials it is comprised of, it can penetrate deep into the tissues of the lungs and cause a number of issues as a result, often leading to both scarring and inflammation of the lung tissue as well as the respiratory tract. This can lead to reduced lung function, as well as an increased chance of developing the above mentioned conditions. Other more serious ailments that can occur would be ones such as ischemic heart disease, heightened risk of heart attacks, strokes as well as arrythmias, all of which can be fatal if left unchecked.

Does Vushtrri have higher pollution levels during certain times of the year?

Observing the PM2.5 level over the course of 2020, it can be seen that the months of January and February, as well as November and December all came in with elevated readings of PM2.5.

Their readings in order were 77.2 μg/m³, 41.5 μg/m³, 80.4 μg/m³ and 57.5 μg/m³. This made November the most polluted month of the year by a significant amount, indicating high levels of smoke, haze and other noxious chemical pollutants.

Does the air quality in Vushtrri improve throughout the year?

Whilst Vushtrri had its more severe levels of air pollution occur in both the very beginning and end of the year, the remaining months in the middle portion of the year all had the cleanest readings, once again highlighting the disparity between the two and how one can suffer from many health conditions if pollution exposure is not limited in the months when the PM2.5 is elevated.

May through to September all had the best levels of air quality, coming in with readings of 14.7 μg/m³, 10.8 μg/m³, 13.6 μg/m³, 16.8 μg/m³ and 16.7 μg/m³ respectively. This put June as the cleanest month on record over 2020 with its reading of 10.8 μg/m³, being the only month that fell into the ‘good’ air quality ratings bracket (10 to 12 μg/m³ required).

What are some types of pollution that can be found in the air in Vushtrri?

The main pollutants that make up the US AQI level would be found in abundance during bouts of high pollution, with nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and ozone (O₃) all being prominent, although ozone may have a tendency to become more prominent during the hotter months of the year. The various oxides of nitrogen (NOx) that are given out by vehicles and industrial areas alike, can react under strong levels of sunlight to form ozone, or smog as it is more commonly known as.

Whilst it is an essential part of the upper atmosphere, as the ever familiar ozone layer, when on ground level, it can cause many adverse health effects. These include ones such as shortness of breath and dizziness, along with nausea, coughing, and inflammation of the respiratory tract.