ISDE warns of poor air quality in 26 Italian cities

A joint statement from the Italian Association of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE Italia) and the Sustainable Urban Mobility Observatory, a project of the Clean Cities Campaign and Kyoto Club, has drawn attention to the fact that 26 major Italian cities exceeded the safety limits set by the European Directive and the WHO for fine dust (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the first quarter of 2025. The data on air quality were collected by monitoring stations overseen by ARPA/APPA, which are part of the National System for Environmental Protection. Concerning fine dust, the critical issues are concentrated in the Po Valley, while high levels of nitrogen dioxide have been detected in many cities in southern Italy due to mobility problems. In port cities, naval transport has a significant impact on global pollution. For PM10, the limit set by the European Directive was exceeded 18 times in 10 cities (Milan, Modena, Padua, Vicenza, Parma, Turin, Brescia, Venice and Terni), while for PM2.5, in 8 cities (Padua, Turin, Milan, Vicenza, Brescia, Bergamo, Modena and Parma), a value higher than the 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air set by current legislation was recorded. Air pollution poses a significant health concern, with well-documented adverse effects on human health. These include an increase in respiratory, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases, developmental disorders in children, and reproductive problems in adults, as highlighted by Roberto Romizi, president of ISDE Italia, and Paolo Bortolotti, head of the air pollution project at ISDE.