“Clean Air Right Platform”, which examines air quality data in Turkey regularly every year, announced the ‘Black Report 2024’. According to the report revealing Turkey’s air quality, 92 percent of the country breathes polluted air throughout the year. According to the report, particulate matter PM10 and carcinogenic PM2.5, which cause air pollution, are not measured regularly and adequately in the three major cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The report states that deaths due to air pollution are approaching 68 thousand 400, and the city with the most polluted air is Hakkari, and underlines that a person living in Turkey is exposed to an annual average of 26 micrograms/cubic meter of PM2.5 pollution. While it is emphasized that this rate is five times the WHO’s guideline value, the report also states that PM2.5 reaches the veins, reacts and causes many diseases, including cancer.
THE RISK IS IN THE EASTERN PROVINCES
In the report, the cities with relatively clean air in terms of PM10 are listed as Adıyaman, Bitlis, Karaman, Isparta, Antalya, Bilecik, Kırşehir, Trabzon, Giresun, Rize, Sinop, Afyonkarahisar and Samsun. However, the annual average PM10 pollution in these cities was 2.7 times the WHO guideline value for human health.
THERE IS NOT ENOUGH DATA
Striking findings from the ‘Black Report 2024’ are as follows: “There are 380 air quality monitoring stations across Türkiye. However, all the parameters that must be monitored according to the legislation are not checked at the stations. “There is not enough data to calculate annual PM10 values at any station in nine provinces.”
NOT MEASURED IN OIZS
“Particulate matter monitoring is very limited in regions where heavy industry uses fossil fuels, especially coal, in production. It is known that pollution is intense.” “No PM10 measurements were made at Sakarya-Hendek OSB, Kocaeli-Gebze OSB and Kocaeli-Dilovası-İMES OSB 2 stations during 2022 and 2023.”
PROVINCES WITH CLEAN AIR
“The 10 provinces with the highest PM10 average in 2023 were Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye, Hakkari, Aydın, Batman, Iğdır, Şırnak, Gaziantep and Kilis, respectively. The annual average was below the annual average PM10 limit value in the national legislation, and the air was relatively clean.” “The 13 cities were identified as Adıyaman, Bitlis, Karaman, Isparta, Antalya, Bilecik, Kırşehir, Trabzon, Giresun, Rize, Sinop, Afyonkarahisar and Samsun.”
“DEATHS WERE PREVENTED”
Evaluating the data reflected in the report, Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Çağlayan said: “If the average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) level in the provinces could be reduced to 5 micrograms per cubic meter, which is the WHO guide value, in 2022, 68 thousand 440 deaths could be prevented. “In 2022, 14.2 percent of the total deaths in people over the age of 30, excluding accidents, injuries and deaths caused by Covid-19, were caused by air pollution.”
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