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Air pollution in Venice and in its mainland: a first assessment of air quality control policies

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Abstract

This article provides, for the first time, direct information on the levels and trends of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter measured by a recently installed air-quality monitoring station in the city of Venice (Italy). High levels of air pollution affect human health and built cultural heritage with corrosion, loss of material due to chemical attack, and soiling: this is particularly dangerous in a World Heritage city like Venice. The pollution levels measured in the historical city are compared to those of a background station in the city of Venice and of urban and background stations in the mainland, also investigating climate factors which might affect pollution in all stations. The first results of the investigation are that the NO2, as well as the PM10, annual average levels in Venice definitely exceeded the limit values set by EU directives. This is an astonishing and unexpected result in a car free city. To contrast the poor air quality, the Venice Municipality decreed in spring 2019 to limit traffic in one of the most overcrowded Venice canals. To investigate the usefulness of the implemented policy we performed a comparative study in which Generalized Additive Models are employed to model the potential reduction in measured nitrogen dioxide in the urban station as compared to the background station. This is done for stations in the historical city of Venice and in the mainland, to give a stronger indication of whether detected changes can be attributable to the traffic policy and no other exogenous factors. The policy is found to have a minor impact in the reduction of measured nitrogen dioxide.

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Notes

  1. On 17 May 2018 the European Commissioner K. Vella has referred 6 out of 9 countries to the European Court of Justice for failure to keep EU air quality standards. The 6 countries that will be referred to the EU Court of Justice are France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom. The European Commission decided to let off the hook Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Instead, these member states’ proposed measures will be closely monitored. <https://www.env-health.org/eu-commission-refers-6-countries-to-eu-court-for-failure-to-keep-eu-air-quality-standards/>.

    <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/et/IP_19_1475>. Both accessed May 10, 2022.

    In 12 May 2022,the European Court of Justice rapped Italy for breaching air-quality norms. The Court approved an infraction procedure by the European Commission for the “systematic and continuous” breach of the annual limit on nitrogen dioxide in the air. It found Italy had not adopted measures to contain NO2 levels since June 2011. Rome breached its statutory obligations, the Court found. Among the areas cited were Turin, Brescia, Milan, Bergamo, Genoa, Rome and Florence. ANSA Latest News < https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2022/05/12/eu-court-raps-italy-for-breaching-air-quality-norms_883bf41d-8919-430c-b49b-1294f7b205e7.html>. Accessed May 15 2022.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is intended to honor Francesco Luna sixtieth birthday. Francesco graduated from Ca’ Foscari (Venice), where he obtained his first doctorate. He had a second one from UCLA. Francesco taught at the University of Venice for several years. Venice had a well-defined role in his youth, and we remember him affectionately. The authors are grateful to ARPAV for providing the data of air pollutants. The authors are also grateful to ARPAV, Dipartimento Regionale per la Sicurezza del Territorio, Unità Organizzativa Meteorologia e Climatologia for weather data used in this study, to prof. C. Agostinelli (University of Trento) for his feedback on a preliminary version of this manuscript, to C. Trozzi and to C.V. F. Paolillo, head of the Maritime Division, Coast Guard, Venice for useful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Campus Scientifico, via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172, Italia

    Ilaria Prosdocimi & Mauro Masiol

  2. Dipartimento di Economia, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia San Giobbe, Cannaregio 873, Venezia, 30121, Italia

    Giuseppe Tattara

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  1. Ilaria Prosdocimi
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  2. Mauro Masiol
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  3. Giuseppe Tattara
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Contributions

IP and MM performed the data analysis and created the Figures. GT, IP, MM wrote the draft and provided interpretation of the results.

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Correspondence to Ilaria Prosdocimi.

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Prosdocimi, I., Masiol, M. & Tattara, G. Air pollution in Venice and in its mainland: a first assessment of air quality control policies. Environ Ecol Stat (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10651-024-00602-0

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