Romanians will see air quality in real time. Ministry of Environment changes reporting method

The Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests has launched a public consultation on the draft Order that modifies the national system for evaluating and presenting air quality indices.

The new regulation aims to move from 24-hour averages to displaying hourly averages for pollutants, in accordance with the revised European methodology (EAQI).

Minister of Environment, Diana Buzoianu, explained that this change is necessary so that the population can find out in real time what air they are breathing.

She recalled the recent situation in Bucharest, when a major fire affected three neighborhoods, but the official sensors indicated “green” values, because the current system displays the average of pollutants from the last 24 hours.

“People want to know what is happening at that moment”, the minister stressed, specifying that Romania is aligning itself with European standards through this change, which will allow for faster and more effective reactions in protecting the health of the population.

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The project provides for the updating of the concentration ranges for all monitored pollutants, the hourly calculation of the air quality index including for suspended particles, as well as a more precise correlation between pollutants based on the equivalent mortality risk. At the same time, clear messages are introduced for the public, for each of the six levels of the index. At Index 1, both the general and sensitive population are informed that “the air is good and usual activities can be continued outdoors”. At Index 6, the general population is advised to reduce outdoor physical activities, and sensitive individuals are advised to avoid such activities completely.

After the approval of the order, the official air quality monitoring platform will be updated to display the new hourly data in real time.

The draft regulatory act and the approval report are available on the website of the Ministry of Environment, and interested citizens and organizations can send observations and proposals within ten days of the publication of the announcement.