Invitation to participate in comparative measurements of particulate matter sensors for PM10

Informing residents of excess airborne levels is one of the key actions in the fight for clean air in the Malopolska Region. Recently, a wide range of particulate matter concentration measurement equipment is available on the market, which is of great interest to both the residents and local governments of the Malopolska Region.

The Malopolska Region, in co-operation with the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Krakow, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow and the Smog Alert Association, plans to organize comparative measurements of the PM10 sensors available on the market. The purpose is to verify and evaluate the reliability of the widely available measurement devices by comparing the results obtained with the results obtained by the Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection reference method.

The planned date of the commencement of measurements is January 16, 2017. The estimated measurement time is about 5 months. The measurements will be conducted at the Main Inspectorate of Environmental Protection. The condition of participation in the planned measurement is the provision of the minimum of 2 measuring sensors that measure the PM10 with mid-hourly values. The results of the measurements will be sent to the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and compared with the results of the measurement station located there. The comparative action will be summarized with a report. The report will be published and widely accessible to municipalities and residents.

We are pleased to invite the entities offering the PM10 measurement equipment to participate in the planned action. Please kindly e-mail us to: powietrze@umwm.pl. The rules of participation and details of the event will be presented to the interested parties in the near future.

The Malopolska Region Management Board adopted a draft anti-smog resolution for the Malopolska Region. This is a document which, from mid-next-year, is to introduce a complete ban on the burning of coal muds and floatation concentrates in furnaces and fireplaces throughout the region and eliminating the installation of boilers that do not meet ecodesign standards.

The most important assumptions of the anti-smog resolution for the Malopolska Region is the limitation of the creation of new low emission sources and the ban on the installation of the so-called “smokers”, boilers that do not meet any emission standards. The resolution also intends to introduce a ban on using coal muds and floatation concentrates and wet wood (with a moisture content of over 20%) from July 2017. At the moment, 800 000 tons of coal muds, coal waste – mainly in the Malopolska and Silesian Regions – are for sales. As a result, more than 98% of the inhabitants of the region breathe the air exceeding the permissible levels of carcinogenic benzo (a) pyrene up to 10 times, and over 4 000 people die each year from diseases caused by the polluted air. The cost of treatment for patients with air pollution and their absence from work is estimated at PLN 3 billion per year.

Residents will have time by the end of 2022 to comply with the provisions of the existing heating system and if the boiler meets the emission requirements of at least at the level of class 3, this period will be extended by the end of 2026.

The content of the draft resolution is available at www.powietrze.malopolska.pl/antysmogowa. Comments and proposals for the draft document can be addressed by January 5, 2017, using the e-mail: powietrze@umwm.pl or in a written form to: the Marshal Office of the Malopolska Region, Environment Department, 56 Racławicka, 30-017 Krakow.