Air quality in Nyiregyhaza

Is Nyíregyháza currently a very polluted city?

Nyíregyháza is a city in north-eastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. It is the seventh-largest city in Hungary with an estimated population of 118,000 people, according to a survey conducted in 2017.

At the beginning of 2022, Nyíregyháza was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 80. This United States Air Quality Index number is an internationally used set of metrics supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is used to compare the air quality in different cities throughout the world using comparable standards. It is calculated by using the levels of the six most commonly found pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. If all six figures are not always available in which case, a level is calculated by using what data there is. In this case there were five of the major pollutants measured which were; PM2.5 - 26 µg/m³, PM10 - 34 µg/m³, ozone (O₃) - 20.1 µg/m³, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) - 11.1 µg/m³ and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 1.6 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is just over two and a half times 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 “Moderate” 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.

Does the level of air pollution vary much throughout the year in Nyíregyháza?

Air quality can be affected by many things, therefore it can and does change rapidly depending on the local conditions. Looking back at the 2020 figures published by IQAir.com, it can be seen that during May, June and July Nyíregyháza achieved the WHO target figure for being less than 10 µg/m³. The cleanest month was June with a figure of 8.7 µg/m³. The following months of August and September saw “Good” quality air with readings between 10.1 and 12.0 µg/m³. The remaining seven months of the year returned “Moderate” air quality with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The worst month for air quality was January with a reading of 31.8 µg/m³.

The first records regarding air quality were noted in 2020 when a figure of 15.7 µg/m³ was recorded. This figure was almost expected because it would have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as many vehicles were no longer in daily use because the offices were closed and the staff encouraged to work from home, 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.

What is the main source of air pollution in Nyíregyháza?

The most serious environmental health problem in Hungary is air pollution from residential heating. Polluted air can reduce children's life chances by an average of 6-18 months.

More and more residents are burning wood, lignite and even waste. Residential incineration was responsible for 74 percent of emissions of the tiniest particles (PM2.5) that pose the greatest threat to health.

Particulate pollution is also a major contributor to global warming. The soot emitted in the countries of the northern hemisphere is carried by the wind to the Arctic and glaciers, where it settles, causing the white ice and snow to turn grey and absorb heat much more. The permanent ice cover in the Arctic is now down 94 per cent from 40 years ago.

Emissions from transport are most common in cities. Exhaust fumes from motor vehicles release a lot of pollutants into the air (including carbon monoxide, lead), which has significantly increased the nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbon content of the air. The compounds just listed cause smog and near-ground-level ozone when exposed to sunlight, which can cause asthma but also destroy wildlife: it damages forests and slows down plant growth.

Can anything be done to improve air quality in Nyíregyháza?

Particulate matter pollution in Hungary had decreased significantly in recent years, and that two-thirds of it now comes from residential heating.

Restrictions on motor vehicle traffic: the use of the most polluting vehicles is prohibited during certain periods. Restriction of industrial emitters: the environmental authority regularly monitors the emissions of pollutants from companies, beyond which it can ban operations.

Industry is responsible for more than half of total emissions of some key air pollutants and greenhouse gases, as well as other important environmental impacts, including emissions to water and soil, waste generation and energy consumption.

Assessments show that industrial emissions to both air and water have decreased over the past decade. Existing and future EU policy instruments are expected to further reduce industrial emissions, but pollution is likely to continue to have a detrimental effect on human health and the environment.

Meanwhile, other EU legislation sets more specific emission reduction targets, such as the National Emission Ceilings Directive and the Industrial Emissions Directive, which aim to prevent and reduce emissions ambitiously, in particular through the continued use of so-called best available techniques (BAT).

What are the detrimental effects of breathing in polluted air in Nyíregyháza?

With air intake, unfiltered particles also enter the lungs and cause irritation, as our immune system identifies them as a foreign body and triggers an inflammatory reaction to neutralize them. But this defence mechanism can also damage the lungs. We know that some particles eventually penetrate the tiny pores of the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and enter various organs. Some of the contamination is trapped in, for example, the kidneys, heart, brain or bones.

Some of the contaminants can get into the placenta and foetus, or even our brains, for example. It looks like these foreign bodies invading our organs cannot be destroyed. Which means they accumulate and cause chronic, persistent low-level inflammation, which has a negative impact on our health.