Air quality in Ankara at critical levels, experts warn

ANKARA

The air quality study conducted in the capital Ankara, covering the period from the beginning of 2021 to the last August, underlines that the measurement data is insufficient and the limit values exceeded in the main parameters causing pollution in the province.

The research conducted by Sevilcan Başak and Cavit Işık Yavuz, experts from Hacettepe University, emphasized that there are not enough measurement stations to measure air pollution in the city.

The risk arising from exceeding the WHO and national limit values of PM10 and PM2.5, the most crucial parameters causing air pollution, on most days of the year, is getting heavier due to reasons such as crowded population, dense traffic network, industrialization and rapid urbanization, the research reveals.

Describing the situation as “an environmental and health problem,” the experts urge authorities to eliminate the inadequacies in pollutant parameter measurements and to ensure the air quality in cities below the limit values to prevent the negative health effects of air pollution.