Air pollution levels at an area under energy transition (Western Macedonia, Greece)

Abstract

In the lignite basin of Western Macedonia, Greece, the lignite long-lasting exploitation and the mining activities have an impact on the environment and air quality. In this study, we focus on the air quality in the cities of Kozani, Kastoria, Grevena and Florina in Western Macedonia, Greece to assess the levels of air pollutants concentrations and investigate their variations at different timescales. The particle pollution in the region exhibits seasonality patterns associated with the weather conditions and the local emissions sources. As for the ozone pollution in the region, there is a minor number of alert days that exceed the European Union (EU) limit value, but ozone concentrations are high based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Also, we evaluate the air quality through the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) which is a health risk-based air pollution index. We concluded that the majority of days found in the category of “moderate” health risk associated with the air quality, while for a small number of days the relevant health risk is “high”.