When we think of the world’s most polluted cities, images of Delhi or Beijing come to mind, but new data has revealed acute pollution problems close to the heart of Europe.
Prof Andre Prevot, of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, explained: “In winter, the particle pollution in the Balkans is the highest in Europe. Particle pollution levels are often higher than in Beijing and on some days they are among the highest in the world. Sulphur dioxide in winter can be over 30 times greater than what we normally see in western Europe.”
About 3,300 people are estimated to die early each year from particle pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is hard to understand a city’s air pollution from making measurements in one place. Instead, the team from the PSI packed state-of the-art air pollution sensors into an adapted van, with sample pipes on the roof, and drove circuits of Sarajevo during wintertime. Each circuit took about 90 minutes, with the team driving up to six circuits in a day.
Michael Bauer, of the PSI, said: “One of the hardest parts of the study was spending so much time in traffic, driving in the narrow streets up and down the hills. Some evenings were visibly smoggy in the west. There were clear odours of wood and coal smoke in the residential areas, and also wafts of grilling, especially of ćevapi, in the city centre.”
The team looked at part of the particle pollution mixture but even this exceeded the World Health Organization’s daily guideline for 66% of the time, and often it was more than eight times higher.
The worst polluted places were residential areas where air pollution was dominated by home heating, including wood, coal and rubbish burning, along with high amounts of cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
A 2023 study by the United Nations Development Programme recommended home insulation, central heating and heat pumps as well as stove inspections and public information. It identified nine priority areas of the city for action.
Bauer said: “Our results confirm the priority areas. Existing plans to reduce solid fuel heating in those areas by 90% by 2033 are desperately needed. Even after this, other sources will still be important and should not be ignored.”
An old vehicle fleet added to the city’s problems. The average vehicle in Sarajevo is 19 years old, with 10% of vehicles pre-dating modern European exhaust standards. In the UK, the average car in 2024 was 10 years old and the average van or lorry was between eight and nine years old.
Restaurant cooking dominated the particle pollution in Sarajevo’s city centre. Bauer said: “Cooking contributes a non-negligible amount to air pollution in the city centre, mainly since home heating is not as important here.”
Prevot added: “The smell of grilling in the city centre was amazing. On some days it felt like being in northern India … you can almost taste it in the mouth.”
