Sometimes, more than words, images speak. And looking at the image of smog levels in Europe, the message is clear: at these latitudes, we breathe some of the worst air on the continent. This fact has also emerged from studies by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Certainly, not only in Vicenza, as the condition is shared with the Po Valley, prompting the involved regions to implement a Basin Agreement since 2017 to jointly address the problem; and over the years, there have been some improvements. But these are meager consolations when considering that fine particulate matter continues to exceed the alert threshold, and the impact on health is now well established.
The Alert
The new ARPAV bulletin on PM10 issued on Wednesday leaves Vicenza and the other municipalities in the agglomeration (Altavilla, Arzignano, Bolzano Vicentino, Brendola, Caldogno, Chiampo, Costabissara, Creazzo, Dueville, Longare, Lonigo, Montebello, Montecchio Maggiore, Monteviale, Monticello, Montorso, Quinto, Sarego, Sovizzo, Torri di Quartesolo, Zermeghedo) in the red zone - hence the worst. But the same bulletin also raises the level from green to orange for the municipalities in the Schio and Bassano basins, practically putting the entire province of Vicenza on smog alert. Essentially, only the mountainous and hilly areas, not subject to PM10 criticality assessment, are spared. The lack of rain - it hasn't rained in the city since January 19 - and "stable weather, associated in recent days with the expansion of an anticyclonic promontory over the Mediterranean area, has continued to determine poor dispersion conditions over the region," summarizes the ARPAV note. The result is a constant increase in fine particulates in the air we breathe with every breath.
On Tuesday (the latest available data), the Quartiere Italia monitoring station recorded 122 micrograms of PM10 per cubic meter of air (105 micrograms of PM2.5, even more dangerous because it can penetrate deeper into the lungs). On Monday, it was 104. For two days, the air quality has been "very poor," a label that applies beyond the threshold of 100 micrograms. Since the beginning of the year, the threshold exceedances set by regulations have been twenty, against an annual maximum of 35. Similar situation in the rest of the Venetian region, except Belluno. Verona recorded 131 micrograms (19 exceedances in 2024), Padua 118 (20), Treviso 104 (22), Venice 103 (17), and Rovigo 101 (18).
The Perspective
The environmental issue becomes an extremely urgent matter. General but also local. Collective and personal. The impact on health, as mentioned, is one of the most delicate aspects, as demonstrated by the appeals from the medical world to adopt appropriate behaviors these days, such as avoiding busy areas, reducing physical activity in smog-exposed areas, paying attention to strollers, and using a mask to protect the respiratory system. Health attention to smog is high, so much so that the World Health Organization in its guidance values has indicated lower tolerance thresholds than those currently accepted by the reference regulations. For PM10, the maximum daily average according to WHO should be 45 micrograms per cubic meter, while today it is 50, to be exceeded at most three days a year and not 35.
(GdV, giovedì 8 febbraio)