Air pollution up to 220 times higher than in areas with clean air was reported in various parts of the city and the harbor in Naples on 26 and 27 April 2019 by Cittadini per l’Aria in collaboration with the Committee for Livability Town and technical support of environmentalist NGO experts German, NABU. These emissions come from ships.
Specifically, Anna Gerometta , President of Cittadini per l’Aria, stated that during the first day of monitoring, the entire Gulf of Naples was surrounded by a heavy layer of pollution, with levels of PM10 (220μg / m³) up to more than five times the legal limit. This was spurred by ships’ emissions. The same problem has been reported in Genoa, Livorno, Venice, Civitavecchia, La Spezia, Savona and Ancona.
The Italian Government must step forward to support the designation of the Mediterranean Sea as an Emission Control Area for sulfur and nitrogen (SECA and NECA). Recent studies indicate that, with this measure, 500 lives per year would be saved in Italy and there would be socio-economic benefits of up to 2.5 billion euros. We call on Ministers Costa and Toninelli to take a step forward immediately to support the ECA project in the Mediterranean, demonstrating, as already done by France and Spain, that they really care about the health of citizens
Cittadini per l’Aria commented.
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However, Naples is the only Italian city to have a binding provision that governs ship emissions. But, the measures are not considered enough, and new, more incisive ones are needed to reduce ship emissions in the city.
These findings came from a sampling conducted in July 2018. Then, samplers were placed to detect nitrogen dioxide at various points near the port along the whole month. It turned out that near the port the average NO2 levels measured were up to 93 μg / m³, which is well over twice the legal limit (40 μg / m³).
Speaking about the results, Dr. Axel Friedrich , the expert who carried out the measurements, noted:
Despite surveys conducted even more than 800 meters from the port, I was able to intercept the dust emitted by the cruise ship arriving at the port (Mein Schiff Herz from TUI) which raised the average particulate matter to 25,000 pt / cm³ with peaks of 98,000 pt / cm³ demonstrating how naval emissions immediately impact the city even at a great distance
