Air pollution - State and impacts (Serbia)

Air quality monitoring, a decades-old tradition in Serbia, is carried out by several institutions that implement the requirements of a variety of regulations. Most of the available information is about concentrations of basic and specific pollutants obtained by manual 24-hour sampling, while the availability of air pollutant emissions data is lower. Activities for improving the situation and upgrading air quality in Serbia have several focuses, but the dominant ones are the development of laws and regulatory by-laws and the establishment of automatic air quality monitoring. Activities are in hand to harmonise air quality regulations with EU practices, including the establishment of systematic availability of data in almost-real time and the introduction of eco-fees.

Figure 1. NO2 Emission, in Gg, from point sources during 2008 - Data source: Serbian Environmental Found

In the past three years air quality in Serbia has, with little variation, been defined by the impacts of basic pollutants – sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and black soot. Their impact can best be assessed in terms of the temporary air quality index, AQI_S_07, defined in the State of Environment Report of the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Figure 2. Air quality monitoring in 2008 was carried out at more than 90 locations, with data from 20 urban and urban/industrial locations being selected for AQ assessment. The poor quality of ambient air in many areas and cities results from emissions of S0₂, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), soot and particular matter. Air quality deteriorates particularly during calm weather conditions and during winter when heating is used.

Figure 2. State of AQ in Serbia, 2008, based on daily SO2, NO2 and black soot concentrations measured on 20 urban and urban-industrial locations

Air quality assessment using AQI_S_07 indicates that air quality during 2008 was EXCELLENT in 84 % of the monitoring sites in terms of daily mean concentrations of SO₂, but only EXCELLENT in 43 % of the monitoring sites in terms of daily mean concentration of black soot. It was POLLUTED in 9.3 % of sites, or VERY POLLUTED in 2.4 % of sites, mainly as a result of daily black soot concentrations exceeding the limit value (LV). 

Polluted and very polluted air is a frequent event in Bor, due to SO₂ daily values exceeding the limit value. 

Monitoring particulate matter concentrations only started recently. There are only some short time-series from a few locations. The limited data provide a first impression of the pressures of particulates on ambient air and show a correlation with black soot (Figure 3).  

Figure 3. Annual distributions of daily (PM10) concentrations and relation PM10 with black soot on Urban-traffic location, Belgrade_PHI- Data source: Belgrade PHI

Exceedances of the LV for SO₂ occur in Serbia. Figure 4 shows the percentages of the urban population, since 1991, exposed to SO₂ exceedances. Locations with processed data cover only part of the population – data collected from measuring points for 2008 cover about 20% of the population.  

Figure 4. Percent of the urban population potentially exposed to daily SO2 concentrations above limit value (125 µg/m3)

Policy context and solution and actions taken by the country

• New laws adopted in 2009 in order to harmonise with EU legislation are the Law on Air Protection and the Law on Ratification of Amendments to Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC;  

• New bylaws are in preparation;

• Establishment of the National automatic monitoring network is in progress 

Further national information 

• Homepages: www.sepa.gov.rs , www.hidmet.gov.rs , www.beoeko.com , www.eko.vojvodina.gov.rs 

• State of Environment Report (www.sepa.gov.rs )