Air quality in Kragujevac

Is Kragujevac a city with bad air pollution?

Kragujevac is a city located in the central region of Serbia, holding the title of fourth largest city in the country as well as being the administrative center of the Sumadija district. It is known for its large industries centered around the manufacturing and production of firearms and artillery, as well as cars and other vehicles. With over 150 thousand inhabitants, coupled with the status of being a free economic zone, there would be a subsequent elevation in the pollution levels, something that would have been a persistent feature throughout the ages due to the industrial areas and foundries having been set up in the city for over 200 years.

Regarding the PM2.5 readings taken in Kragujevac over the course of 2019, its yearly average came in at 24.7 μg/m³, a relatively high reading that placed it into the ‘moderate’ ratings bracket, which requires a reading between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such. This is on the higher end of what would be considered normal for a European city, and with its reading of 24.7 μg/m³ it was ranked in at 637^th place out of all cities worldwide, as well as coming in at 6^th place out of all cities ranked in Serbia. This is indicative that Kragujevac is subject to some less than appreciable levels of air quality.

What are the causes of air pollution in Kragujevac?

As with much of Serbia, Kragujevac sees a lot of its pollution problems stemming from similar sources. To broach the topic of one of these sources, it would be vehicular pollution that tops the list of ambient emissions present, with many personal vehicles such as cars and motorbikes inhabiting the roads, giving off vast amounts of smoke and fine particulate matter. To compound this particular issue, as is common in many cities across eastern Europe, many of the vehicles on the road are of the aged variety, having engines and motors that are way past their standardized use by date, and as such would leak larger amounts of oil vapors and chemicals as well as putting out larger amounts of pollution due to a poorer combustion process. Heavy duty vehicles such as trucks, lorries and buses also inhabit the road with a similar issue, and with Kragujevac’s prominent manufacturing industry, would see large amounts of these vehicles on the road to ferry products out of the country or to certain locations for export.

Other causes of air pollution would be emissions from factories, power plants and other industrial zones, with many of them running on fossil fuels such as coal, as well as using diesel in their heavy machinery, all of which pump out pollutants in great quantities. Other similar causes would be the burning of wood or other organic materials during the colder months, as well as dust released from construction sites, road repairs or any other similar areas.

When is the air in Kragujevac at its most polluted?

Observing the data taken over the course of 2019, it becomes apparent that there is a period of time in Kragujevac when the air quality becomes less than optimal. Whilst the first two months are missing from the year due to lack of data, it can be seen that from the month of September moving on to October, a prominent difference in PM2.5 levels was seen. September came in with a PM2.5 reading of 14.3 μg/m³, which was followed by a jump that went up by more than double in number, with October showing readings of 38.5 μg/m³, enough to place that month into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket.

Whilst November’s reading fell back down into the moderate rating at 29.1 μg/m³, what followed was the most polluted month of the year, with a dangerous reading of 60.7 μg/m³ being taken in December, one that was high enough to place it into the ‘unhealthy’ bracket, which as the name suggests, is highly detrimental to any portion of the population who are exposed to it. Whilst January and February are missing from the data field, it can be seen that March and April also have higher readings of PM2.5, and as such it is most likely that the elevated levels of pollution persisted from the years end through to the early months of the next year. As such, the period of time in which Kragujevac is at its most polluted is between October through to April of the following year, with December coming in as the highest reading.

When is the air quality at its cleanest in Kragujevac?

As touched on before, the period of time with the highest levels of pollution was between the months of October through till April of the following year. It was around this time that the air quality saw some considerable improvements, with Aprils reading of 23.5 μg/m³ being followed by a reading of 12.8 μg/m³ in May.

It was between these months, May to September, that Kragujevac’s air quality was at its best, with readings of 12.8 μg/m³ (as mentioned above), 15 μg/m³, 12.1 μg/m³, 13.9 μg/m³ and 14.3 μg/m³ all having been taken in that time frame, making July the cleanest month out of the year and only 0.1 units away from being moved into the ‘good’ air quality bracket.

What are some of the main pollutants found in the air in Kragujevac?

Some of the main pollutants found in the air would be ones such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), both of which see large amounts of release from vehicle exhaust, along with black carbon, the main component in soot. Nitrogen dioxide is the main offending chemical compound that finds its release from vehicles, often being found in high quantities over areas that see a higher volume of traffic, so much so that it can be used to calculate how much pollution is being caused by vehicles alone.

Other pollutants caused by combustion processes taking place in industrial zones would be ones such as volatile organic compounds (VOC's), which along with black carbon, find their release from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and organic matter. Some examples of VOC's are chemicals such as toluene, xylene, benzene, methylene chloride, formaldehyde and tetrachloroethylene.