Bulgaria Choking as Air Dust Hits New Highs

Society » ENVIRONMENT | January 3, 2012, Tuesday // 19:07
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Choking as Air Dust Hits New Highs A file photo shows a member of Bulgaria's youth eco association "Green Tigers" rallying in a protest action against the air pollution in the capital city of Sofia. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria's executive environmental agency raised an alert on Tuesday over the high concentration of dust particles in the air in fourteen towns and cities across the country since the beginning of the year.

The first days of 2012 exceeded the norm in levels of harmful particles in the regions of Blagoevgrad, Varna, Vidin, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Dobrich, Kardzhali, Nessebar, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Ruse, Smolyan, Sofia and Shumen.

Readings at specific points in the town of Shumen exceeding the norm nearly four times, the agency said.

Experts have attributed the abnormally high pollution levels in Bulgaria to domestic heating, fog, road traffic and industrial emissions.

EU standard values for fine dust say a maximum of 50 microgram per cubic meter may be exceeded on up to 35 days per year.

Residents of many Bulgarian cities have even started wearing altered surgical masks to protect themselves from the poisonous dust.

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Tags: Bulgaria, air, pollution

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