Air quality in Nesher

What is the current level of air pollution in Nesher?

Nesher is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. It was founded in 1923 as a residential town for the staff from the newly established cement factory. In 2019 it had an estimated population of approximately 25,000 residents.

At the beginning of 2022, Nesher was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 84. 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 Nesher, five of the main pollutants were measured. These were as follows; PM2.5 - 27.8 µg/m³, PM10 - 40.5 µg/m³, ozone (O₃) - 0 µg/m³, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) - 17.3 µg/m³ and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 1.8 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is just over two and a half times above 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 Nesher?

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 readily be seen that for the months of January, June and November, Nesher was enjoying “Good” air quality with readings between 10.1 and 12.0 µg/m³. The remaining nine months returned air quality from the “Moderate” category with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The dirtiest month was December with a reading of 16.2 µg/m³.

Records regarding air pollution were first held in 2017 when an annual average figure of 13.8 µg/m³ was recorded. 2018 saw an improvement with a figure of 12.4 µg/m³. However, in 2019 the figure declined to 16.8 µg/m³, before it improved again in 2020 with a figure of 13.6 µg/m³. This lower 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 major source of air pollution in Nesher?

Most of the air pollution in Haifa, Ashdod and Ashkelon is caused not by a terrestrial industry of factories such as Zen and Haifa Chemicals, but by emissions of vessels. The ships that arrive in Haifa and Ashdod emit more breathable and nitrogen particles than all the industrial plants and power stations in Haifa, Ashdod and Ashkelon combined.

Ship engines, he explains, consume the most polluting fuels. These are inferior products of fuel distillates, which would not have been used in sea transport, it would have been necessary to bury them in the ground. If it is not bad enough, to use such fuel must be heated first. Therefore, ships never immerse their engines: the engine works even when they are moored, constantly burning the inferior fuel and emitting polluting particles into the air.

Can anything be done to improve air quality in and around Nesher?

The state has not taken proactive steps to reduce ship-polluting emissions; it only oversees security matters. The establishment of the new ports in Haifa, Ashkelon and Ashdod is an opportunity to change that, and first of all through the establishment of a civilian maritime transport authority. Build a response plan for events such as oil or oil emissions, and ensure coordination and sharing of information between the relevant bodies for the entry and exit of merchant ships in the maritime space.

Another necessary move is a change in port fares for individual ships, according to their relative contribution to emissions with regard to length of stay: a polluter-carrying ship will have to pay more for a stay in port. In practice this is basically a progressive pollution levy.

What are the detrimental effects of breathing in polluted air?

Greenpeace report estimates the cost of air pollution caused by fossil fuel use at $8 billion a day. In Israel, the issue is low on the public agenda, despite the accumulating evidence of the harms of polluted air respiration.

Permanent exposure to high air pollution has been linked to a wide range of health damages, including respiratory diseases, heart disease, stroke, various cancers, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, birth defects and premature death.

Air pollution is a significant threat to children, especially in low-income countries. It is estimated that about 40,000 children die before their fifth birthday due to exposure to very delicate breathing particles, which originate from the burning of gas, oil and coal. The same exposure is responsible for about two million premature births a year.

Nitrogen dioxide, which is a by-product of burning fuels in cars, power plants and factories, is linked to about 4 million new cases of asthma in children each year, with about 16 million children worldwide living with asthma due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide.