“To verify the quantity of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a polluting gas spread in the air following combustion processes and harmful to human health, present in the air of Trieste, the Circolo Verdeazzurro Legambiente Trieste – in the knowledge that the monitoring of ARPA FVG are the only ones that have legal value – it promoted a “Citizen science” campaign, by means of passive displays, called radielli, widely used by associations and environmental agencies in Italy and Europe to monitor the presence of this gas.
The expenses were supported by the Club, with a contribution from Coop Alleanza 3.0, which we thank, following our participation in the “More Close” campaign.
The professor. Mario Mearelli, representative of Legambiente Trieste for “Citizen science” initiatives, reported on the results of monitoring in various streets of the city of Trieste.
The monitoring campaign was carried out in March through the placement of 19 passive displays (radielli) in some streets of the city, in which citizens and public establishments collaborated.
The exposure lasted for two weeks during March 2024, immediately after which the samples were sent to a laboratory in Trieste for analysis.
The attention paid to NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) derives from its widespread diffusion in cities and its danger to human health.
Precisely for this reason, official monitoring activities (ARPA) are being accompanied by monitoring initiatives conducted by associations that involve citizens who are increasingly concerned about air quality and its impacts on health.
The radielli solution, in many cases also used by local authorities and by the regional ARPA agencies themselves, greatly simplifies this activity as it does not involve technical problems and allows you to choose the areas of interest without instrumental constraints, obtaining scientifically valid results.
The streets involved in the exhibition cover a large area of the city of Trieste: Via Carli, Via del Bosco, Via del Molino a Vento, Piazza Casali, Via Cesare Battisti, Piazza Silvio Benco, Via della Madonna del Mare, Via di Torre Bianca, Via Valdirivo, Via Rittmeyer, Via Udine, V.le Miramare, Via Giosuè Carducci, Via Mazzini, Via della Ginnastica, Via Palestrina, Via del Coroneo, Barriera Vecchia, Borgo Grotta Gigante.
This last area (Sgonico), almost certainly with a low polluting load, represents a sort of white (as the air quality could be in the absence of pollution).
The laboratory analysis of the exhibitors was entrusted by Legambiente to the company New Eco Srl, represented at the press conference by Dr. Massimo Fregonese, who illustrated the technical aspects of radielli analysis. For the evaluation of the results – continued the prof. Mearelli – reference is made to Legislative Decree 155/2010 which defined an annual limit value of 40 µg/m3 for NO2.
Among the 19 analysis points, this value is not exceeded only in Sgonico (Giant cave village), Via Carli and Via Torre Bianca.
The worst situation was found in Via del Molino a Vento with 75.01 µg/m3, in all other cases the values fluctuate between 40 and 50 µg/m3.
Recently the WHO recommended taking the value of 10 µg/m3 as a reference for the protection of human health.
It was thus possible to calculate how many times this limit is exceeded by the 19 samples of the monitoring campaign.
Only in Sgonico, which indicates what the air could be like in acceptable conditions, this limit is not exceeded. In all other cases, values higher by a factor of 3 (P.za Casali) to 8 (Via del Molino a Vento) were found.
The results are such as to recommend a careful analysis of all sources of NO2 emissions and targeted interventions to reduce them.
NO2 was responsible for 68,000 premature deaths in the EU in 2016. JRC (Joint Research Centre) of the European Union has calculated that in the 30 main European cities NO2 concentrations could be reduced by up to 40% by applying adequate traffic regulation policies.
Let’s start from here! Facts not just analyses! ” According to Legambiente Fvg
