Every city in country breathes polluted air: Report

ISTANBUL

No city in Türkiye meets the clean air standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO), as all provinces experience air pollution at different levels, a report prepared by a non-governmental platform reveals.

Bringing together several medical associations, non-governmental organizations and experts, the Right to Clean Air Platform recently published a report on air pollution in the country.

There is no city in Türkiye that breathes clean air according to the WHO’s standards, the report revealed.

According to the data the platform called the “Dark Report,” the southeastern province of Batman is the city that breathes the most polluted air in the country.

It is followed by the eastern provinces of Iğdır, Ağrı, Şırnak and Malatya, respectively.

According to WHO standards, there is almost no particulate matter pollution in the southeastern province of Hakkari, whereas the city breathes highly polluted air in terms of sulfur dioxide.

Pointing out that earthquakes, which caused massive destruction in the country’s 11 southern provinces, had a significant adverse impact on air pollution rates, the report said that air pollution in the quake-hit cities increased to two and a half times the national limits due to several reasons, such as debris dust or lighting fires in the open air for heating.

According to WHO guideline values, air pollution in the earthquake zone has increased by seven and a half times.

The report, touching upon the impacts of air pollution on health, noted that more than 42,000 people in the country lost their lives due to air pollution-related diseases in 2021. Some 4,848 residing in Istanbul died due to the same reason, while this figure was 2,853 in the capital Ankara.

On the other hand, experts also stated that air pollution is one of the underlying reasons behind mental problems.

Particulate matter, often abbreviated as “PM,” destroys the nervous system and leads to brain damage.

Describing air pollution as a public health problem, physician İrem Ekmekçi Ertek noted that air pollution is one of the factors causing an increase in the risk of mental illness, worsening of existing mental anomalies, an increase in hospital admissions and hospitalizations for psychiatric reasons.