Evaluation of the air pollution in a Mediterranean region by the air quality index.

Abstract

The increasing expansion of the cities together with activities carried out on the environment by men have contributed to the deterioration of air quality. Air quality index measures how much air is free from pollution. Being aware of the healthiness of the breathed air is a right for the people. Public authorities must constantly inform the population on air quality status. Even though several pollutants are monitored by the air quality monitoring networks, providing a significant amount of data, their interpretation and presentation to the population by the public authorities is a difficult task. Some countries, for several years, have adopted evaluation procedures through daily indices that succinctly describe the air quality status in different areas of the city. The use of an index which is able to give a simple and quick information to the population represents a possible solution for the public authorities. Concerning a Mediterranean area, it has not yet been possible to adopt a single indicator to be used for informing the population. In this work, the air quality status is highlighted by the air quality index (AQI) whose purpose is to inform, in a simple and immediate way, the population. Analyzing the AQI's trend from 2013 to 2015, it was possible to assess the air quality status, obtaining an overall scenario for the purpose of protecting human health and the ecosystems. We point out that this kind of research could be applied to every region or municipality.