Air Pollution in Urban and Suburban Areas in Kosovo

Abstract

Air pollution in cities has a major impact on human health and constitutes one of the major environmental and public-health issues human society has to address today.Contamination of water, soil, and air in many parts of the world, but also in Kosovo, is a serious environmental problem, and a permanent risk to public health. Exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been associated with a wide range of effects on health, but effects on mortality are arguably the most important and are also most amenable to global assessment. Degradation of the atmospheric environment is intensified during the last years in the major cities of Kosovo. The main current air pollution sources in Kosovo are: KEC that includes thermal power plants (Kosova A and Kosova B) and lignite mines in Obiliq, Industrial complex in Mitrovicë, Ferronikeli in Gllogovc, Cement factory - SharrCem in Hani i Elezit, etc. The monitoring objectives are to determine compliance with air quality limit value to detect pollutant levels of SO2, NOx, CO, O3, PM10, in PM10, which study is focused on four different urban areas in Kosovo. Air quality is a major problem in many urban areas in the Republic of Kosovo and therefore has an impact on human health. The main serious air pollutants are Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Sulfur Oxide (SOx), Carbon Monoxide CO, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and different specks of dust (PM10 and PM2.5).

Keywords: air pollution, Kosovo, particulate matter, NOx, O3.