"For the Earth" Association again measures alarmingly high air pollution in Sofia with nitrogen dioxide

The "For the Earth" environmental association has been monitoring air quality in Sofia for years, examining levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) - one of the main pollutants related to car traffic.

Here is information about the measurements conducted by the association:

In 2021 and 2022, we conducted measurements at various locations in the city, using diffusion tubes. The results show a worrying trend - in 2021, at 19 out of 27 locations, and in 2022 at 25 out of 27, we reported average annual values ​​above the permissible 40 µg/m³. At all 20 locations where we measured in both years, NO₂ levels in 2022 were higher than those in 2021.

In 2024, we also published a report with data from November 2023 to April 2024 (they cover the period one month before the introduction of the ZNE, all three months of its implementation period, as well as one month after), which also showed a slight increase in concentrations compared to previous periods.

From "For the Earth" we continued measuring pollution in Sofia in 2024 at 36 locations. In 33 of them, we measured annual concentrations above the legal norm, and 2 of the points with lower values ​​are those located at stations from the official monitoring system. In the most polluted location, we measured a nitrogen dioxide concentration of 64 µg/m³. We also found that the trend of increasing pollution compared to 2021 and 2022 continues.

See details in the attached report on the association's website.