Current state of air pollution of Lutsk town

Abstract

Introduction. Air pollution is an important factor influencing the quality of life and health of peoples. It is increasing due to urbanization, development of industrial and transport complexes of cities. The same tendencies are characteristic for the state of air pollution in Lutsk. In recent years, the level of its pollution is estimated as high. And in the first half of 2018, Lutsk was among the top three cities with the highest level of air pollution in Ukraine. Although the town is not a major industrial center. The purpose of article. The purpose of the study is assessment and analyze the current level of air pollution in Lutsk for many years (2011-2019). Methods. Research methods – expeditionary (for research the ecological condition of the urban area), methods of mathematical statistics (for statistical processing of monitoring results), expert assessment (to establish the causes of pollution and environmental risks). The materials of own researches of an ecological condition of the Lutsk territory, and also results of laboratory researches of atmospheric air pollution on stationary posts in the town are used. They were conducted by the Integrated Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Observations of the Volyn Regional Center for Hydrometeorology. Results. The structure of pollutant emissions in the town is analyzed. It is established that the share of emissions from mobile sources (vehicles) increased from 61.4% in 1990 to 92.2% in 2015 and 94.6% in 2020. For the period from 2009 to the present the air pollution index (API) for the Lutsk town varies between 7.7 and 10.49 (high level of pollution). The size of the API slightly decreased until 2015, and then increased until 2018. The place of Lutsk in the ranking of the most polluted cities in Ukraine correlates with the value of the API. In 2013-14 API was relatively low – 7.99-8.55. Lutsk occupied 22 steps. Since 2016, API for the Lutsk has started to increase. The city rating rose from 9 to 7 steps. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, phenol and formaldehyde in the air of the town constantly exceed the maximum concentration limits. The scientific novelty is to analyze the dynamics of the content in the town air of substances whose concentrations exceed the maximum allowable, to study the causes of pollution, to develop a set of measures to reduce air pollution in Lutsk. Practical significance is determined by the possibility of using the obtained results to develop a set of measures to reduce air pollution in Lutsk.