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What is the current level of air pollution in Český Těšín?

Český Těšín is a town in the Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It can be found on the west bank of the Olza River. A survey which was conducted last year determined the population to be approximately 24,000 people.

At the beginning of 2022, Český Těšín was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 61. 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. There were three pollutants measured here, which were; PM2.5 - 17 µg/m³, PM10 - 23.7 µg/m³ and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 4 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is just over one and a half times over 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 in this “Moderate” bracket the given advice would be to remain indoors as much as possible, closing doors and windows to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. Those who are more sensitive to poor quality air should avoid venturing outside until it improves. If this is unavoidable, then a good quality face mask should be worn at all times. All types of outdoor exercise should be avoided until the air quality improves. There is a downloadable app from AirVisual.com which is suitable for all operating systems and gives the latest information regarding air quality in real-time. This will help in the decision as to whether to go outside or not.

Does the level of air pollution change much throughout the year in Český Těšín?

Air quality can be affected by many variables, therefore it is easy to see just how quickly it can change in a relatively short space of time. During 2020 the figures published by IQAir.com show that the air quality fell into two categories during the year. The months of February and June brought “Good” air quality with respective figures of 10.9 and 11.8 µg/m³. The readings need to be between 10.1 and 12.0 µg/m³ to classify as such. For the remaining ten months of the year, the air quality was classified as being “Moderate” with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The dirtiest month was January with a reading of 29.6 µg/m³.

Historically, records for air pollution have been kept since 2017 when a figure of 27.2 µg/m³ was recorded. A slight decline was noticed in 2018 when that figure was 29.6 µg/m³. However, this improved in 2019 when the figure was just 20.0 µg/m³. This fell to 17.9 µg/m³ in 2020 but this low figure was to be expected because it 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. Worldwide, cities reported a much better quality of air due to the general lack of traffic pollution in city centres due to the pandemic.

Is there a main source of air pollution in Český Těšín?

The atmosphere in Český Těšín is bad, thanks in part to pollution created over the river at the Polish side. Smoke and odours often belch out of the chimneys and can easily be seen.

The Czech-Polish border is one of the most polluted areas in Europe. "Short-term and long-term limits of air pollutants, especially suspended dust aerosol particles, such as PM2.5 and PM10 are exceeded here. Citizens' interest in the state and causes of air pollution is increasing, there are discussions and speculations about the impact of cross-border transfers of these pollutants from Poland to the Czech Republic and vice versa.

Suspended particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone are the pollutants that cause the greatest damage to human health and the environment in Europe. The main sources of these pollutants are road transport, domestic heating, agriculture and industry.

In cities, where about three quarters of Europeans live, road transport is often the main source of air pollution, especially because cars emit pollutants at ground level, close to people. In some parts of Europe, the major source of pollutants is from the combustion of wood and coal for domestic heating. Unfortunately, these emissions increase in the winter months, when meteorological conditions often prevent the dispersion of pollutants.

What can be done to improve air quality in Český Těšín?

Although it is not easy to resolve the situation immediately, at least one proposal emerged from the negotiations to help resolve the complicated situation in the coming years. At the moment, the region is preparing at least a subsidy for the replacement of boilers in households. Instead of the old type, people can exchange subsidized boilers for modern ones.

The way people and goods move, how we produce heat and electricity, and how we produce and consume food, is in many ways the basis of our current way of life. Therefore, changing these systems is not easy. In many cases, it requires us to rethink the way we build our society and the way we live.

What are the detrimental effects of breathing in polluted air?

Atmospheric pollution mainly affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, but the harmfulness always depends on how long we have been exposed to the pollution and how big the dust particles have been. The size of the particles affects where the dust particle is trapped in the respiratory system and can cause serious health problems.

Particles larger than 10 microns are trapped in the upper respiratory tract - so we can sneeze out of irritation, for example. Particles smaller than 10 microns penetrate the larynx and are called inhaled or so-called thoracic particles.

Particles smaller than 2.5 microns settle in the bronchi. They affect clogged arteries and can increase the likelihood of inflammation of the veins or heart attack. They also have a bad effect on pregnant women, for example, because these particles can disrupt the transport of oxygen to the placenta and new-borns can have higher blood pressure and lower birth weight.