Air pollution in Lombardy beyond the limit once more

[Susy, 29]

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Since the beginning of 2017, the rare rainfalls interesting Northern Italy, and Lombardy in particular, have exacerbated a situation of air pollution already defined alarming in 2016. In January, cities like Padua registered up to 140 micrograms of PM 10, almost 3 times the 50 micrograms limit established as safety threshold by the EU.

While in other European countries the limit level of PM 10 is not overcome anymore thanks to the actions taken by local administrations, in Lombardy, one of the richest and most industrialised regions in Europe, this threshold has been breached several times and by far, but the resolutions taken by the administration and the efforts made to solve the issue have been extremely weak. In fact, there have been several investment cuts to the few measures proposed 4 years ago within a plan that even lacked a deadline by which air pollution in Lombardy should have got back to regularity.

Italy is the first country in Europe for the health damages caused by nitrogen dioxide, and Lombardy is not the only region where the right to clean air is being constantly denied and its respect neglected. Some NGOs like CleanEarth and Italian associations such as Legambiente and Cittadini per l’Aria have recently called for effective measures to be taken by Lombardy regional administration, but awareness and a public condemnation should spread among the population and the institutions to push for a tangible change of course.

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