Many articles and chronicles highlighting the difficulty of living a healthy live in the coastal city of Durres due to air and environment pollution, have been published in the recent years. That is a disturbing fact!
Air pollution is one of the main causes that, in a slow and incomprehensible form, stole years of life. It directly affects the function of the lungs and heart, causing acute but also severe chronic diseases. Consequently, citizens who live in a city where they cannot constantly breath clean air into their lungs, are automatically inclined to live fewer years of life, regardless of what age they are. According to Lancet Health Planet 2022, polluted air is the greatest environmental risk for premature death, responsible for more than 9 million premature deaths each year. [1]
According to Mandatory Health Care Insurance Fund in Albania (FSDKSH) 2021 data obtained from 5 regions of the country, Durres has resulted the second city with the highest prevalence of chronic bronchitis among chronic patients with bronchial asthma.[2]
"I am a pharmacist and health is primary for us. Even healthy people can suffer health effects from the polluted air here in Durres, starting from breathing difficulties, eyes, nose and throat irritation, coughing, chest tightness, fatigue during walking or exercising or other outdoor activities, up to the worsening of cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases. You feel as if you have been deprived of the oxygen that nature bounty provides us for free. And as if that wasn't enough, the trees are being cut, the environment is smoky with plumes of smoke and soot. And after 50 years, these same people who have caused this natural massacre, are the ones who come at the pharmacy and take asthma medication until they end up with oxygen cylinders." - states Arjana Ballolli, Pharmacist working in Durres.
The city of Durres, being one of the most developed cities in Albania after Tirana, is known for its activity with the largest port in the country and the increased number of vehicles, as well as a large number of residents and tourists who visit it, especially in the summer season. Based on the data of the General directorate of road transport service (DPSHTRR) in Durrres, the number of vehicles increased with 8583 vehicles from 2021 to 2022.[3] According to residents, vehicles and city buses are old and depreciated, and apart from polluting the air on a daily basis, they have also caught fire. Citizens continue to use the public transport lines because they have no other choice and even though they have complained at the Municipality, the answer is that they are private lines, and the Municipality cannot do anything.
In addition, taking into account the reconstruction of the city after the earthquake of November 2019, in recent years the activities related to the construction sector have had a very big surge, including both the demolition and reconstruction of buildings, thus significantly increasing the level of pollution. Recently, the construction activity of the ecological park in the area called the waste field in the Keneta area, has also been increased. All these are important factors to be taken into account by state institutions regarding the impacts on air pollution.
"Like every citizen of Durres, I have also noticed some concerning issues in terms of air pollution. Due to the numerous constructions of private buildings or residential apartment complexes, there are enough green spaces available left. The road infrastructure has become concrete, concrete, concrete. Businesses have occupied the green spaces. There is an overload of vehicles in the city." - states Esterina Mema, a resident of Durres.
"Durres city, according to various assessments conducted by experts, but also from our daily work in the field, we have noticed that the areas loaded with traffic such as the Train Station, areas near the Police Region, etc, have an increased level of air pollution that comes directly from heavy traffic.” - stated Klaudio Hyseni, Executive Director of "Durresi Aktiv" Organization.
The assessment of the current impacts of air pollution on health in Albania is hindered by the lack of systematic data that must be produced by state institutions. The National Environment Agency has not yet published the 2022 "State of the Environment Report", meanwhile in 2021 incomplete data is presented for Durres city and only related to NO2 and CO parameters. Meanwhile, in the periodic newsletter "Protect the Environment" published in January 2023, it does not seem that special attention was paid to air quality issues among the activities organized during 2022.
The assessment of the environment situation must be continuous and based on relevant data. It is very important that the assessment to be signalized in time, in order to evaluate the development trends in the environment sector and the impacts from the development sectors. As the main competent entity for monitoring the state of the environment and measuring the quality of urban air, when asked about the barriers that affect the institution in applying the foreseen measurements in due time, The National Environment Agency stated: "The main problem is the maintenance of the air stations. The air stations need annual maintenance, which due to the procedures and limited budget, there have been cases where it was not been completely effectuated".
Regarding the question about the measures that undertaken specifically for Durres city, the state was that "NEA is tasked to provide recommendation for measures to be undertaken by the local government. It recommends the local government to take measures", while we do not have a concrete answer on the specific measures recommended for Durres.
On the other hand, currently, civil society organizations in Albania have an active and significant role in addressing environmental issues through monitoring, advocacy, lobbying and information. Air quality monitoring is made possible in real time, with IQAir equipment installed in Durres Municipality within the project "Clean air, healthy life" which is implemented by the partner organizations Milieukontakt Albania, Together for Life, GO2 Shkodra and EPER Center in Korca. The project is conducted within the "Green-AL" program, financed by the Swedish International Agency for Cooperation and Development with the funds of the Swedish Government, implemented by Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development in cooperation with VIS Albania, COSV - Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo and CISP - Sviluppo dei Popoli.
The data has shown an exceedance of the PM2.5 parameter almost twice the value of the allowed norm of the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The allowed standard for PM2.5 is 25 µg/m3, while real-time measurements have shown that the average value in Durres Municipality is 37.7 µg/m3. This is an indicator of negative consequences for the health Durres citizens, especially those who are more sensitive categories and need to move around the city in their daily life. Consequences can be severe to fatal, if exposure lasts for a long time.
Most air pollution-related deaths are caused by human exposure to inhalation of fine PM2.5 dust particles. The World Bank estimates that around 6.4 million people died prematurely worldwide in 2019 due to exposure to air pollution. According to the calculations of the World Bank, Albania had 79 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants from environmental pollution factors, a high value compared to developing countries, but this indicator was lower than the countries of the region.[4]
On the other side, based on the mobile measurements conducted in summer, at the end of August 2022 and the beginning of September 2022, a total of 100 points/stations were monitored in Durres Municipality, including the main streets and neighborhoods of the city. The monitoring process was carried out through the Aeroqual device, measuring the parameters PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO2. From the monitoring, it was noticed that especially the average value of nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide, were above the allowed rates of the EU, reaching maximum values of 56-76 µg/m3 for nitrogen dioxide NO2 and 403-417 ppm/m3 for carbon dioxide CO2 (the standard rates are 40 µg/m3 for NO2 and 350 ppm/m3 for CO2). Bearing in mind that these 2 elements are released into the air mainly from the burning of fuels and the transport sector in general, we reiterate the fact that one of the main problems in the Durres remains to be the overload of the dense movement of uncontrolled vehicles. Meanwhile, regarding PM10 and PM2.5 particles, the problem can be related to the reconstructions works carried out by the Municipality as a result of the earthquake of November 26, 2019, and other constructions without any criteria.
"Decreasing the air pollution amount and PM10 and PM2.5 dust particles could be enabled, among other solutions, by putting into use modern cleaning technology tools. Even though, last year, under the 'City Cleaning Initiative', Durres Municipality has enabled high-tech city cleaning vehicles, the pollution still continues to be present" - states the activist who has carried out the air quality monitoring process in Durres.
According to the progress report of the European Council for Albania (2022) in the environment chapter, one of the quoted recommendations states: "More efforts are needed for air quality and improving of the monitoring system. The implementation of the 2014 national air quality strategy is still pending, and the 2019 National Air Quality Management Plan does not present a functional monitoring system.
Taking into account the above mentioned, it is necessary the application of a wider monitoring process of air pollutants and activities with a negative impact on pollution levels in Durres Municipality; as well as taking measures to prevent the further action of these polluting factors, strictly implementing the WHO guidelines based on a concrete action plan for air quality. Moreover, the responsibilities for the implementation of environmental legislation should be more clearly defined and the implementation itself should be strengthened quickly, especially for uncontrolled and abusive activities towards the environment.
"Until now we are not aware if the Municipality will take measures to improve the air quality or start working on drafting the "Action Plan for Air Pollution", a very big shortcoming that Durres has. Actions, monitoring and continuous reporting bring up policies that must be supported and implemented by the responsible institutions and also turned into legislation for citizens and businesses. We as an organization will make continuous requests for improving air quality based on the reports and monitoring carried out". - says Klaudio Hyseni, Executive Director of the "Durresi Aktiv" Organization.
In the National Environmental Protection Program 2023 published on the official website of NEA, in the first chapter on Air Quality Monitoring, the improvement of air quality in areas where the limits have been exceeded and those where there is a high risk of exceeding them, as well to maintain the quality level in the rest of the territory, has been designated as a priority for 2023. This is intended to be achieved by implementing measures such as the reduction and disallowance of emissions from traffic, industrial sources or combined sources, based on the standards established in the law based on decision no. 352, dated 29.04.2015 "On the evaluation of the air quality of the environment and the requirements for some pollutants in relation to it". Durres city is among the priority areas after Tirana, Elbasan and Fier.
References:
[1]Pollution and health : a progress update, Lancet Health Planet 2022, published May 17th , 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00090-0
[2] Numri i njerëzve të sëmurë, burimi FSDKSH
[3] Sipas DPSHTRR në Durrës numri i mjeteve në Qershor 2021 ishte 93,654 mjete, ndërsa në Qershor 2022 ishte 102237 mjete. https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/88a5d7ed-d04e-42ae-8a3a-ff859bb0e965/page/RX1xB
[4] World Bank “Mortality from air pollution in Albania, the lowest in the Region”
[5] Albania Report 2022.pdf (europa.eu)
[6] Programi-Kombetar-i-Monitorimit-te-Mjedisit-2023.pdf
