{"id":8515,"date":"2026-01-21T13:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=8515"},"modified":"2026-01-21T13:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:00:23","slug":"romanias-cluj-napoca-saw-polluted-air-on-222-days-in-2025-report-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=8515","title":{"rendered":"Romania\u2019s Cluj-Napoca saw polluted air on 222 days in 2025, report shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inhabitants of Cluj-Napoca, Romania\u2019s second-largest city, breathed polluted air in 222 days last year, according to a study carried out by the community network \u2018Strop de Aer\u2019 and cited by G4Media<\/a>. The analysis, carried out on over 1.8 million measurements collected from 48 sensors installed by citizens, highlights the fact that pollution was not an occasional phenomenon, but a constant exposure, with an impact on public health.<\/p>\n

The data targeted fine particles PM2.5 and PM10, and compared them with the thresholds recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021).<\/p>\n

The results indicate that on 222 days in 2025, PM2.5 values exceeded the annual threshold recommended by the WHO, of 5 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3. In addition, on 70 days of the year, the daily threshold of 15 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3 was also exceeded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s data taken from the Strop de Aer sensors shows some increased values if we refer to the thresholds recommended by the World Health Organization,\u201d explained Alexandru Luchiian, founder of the network.<\/p>\n

According to him, the annual average for PM2.5 was approximately twice above the value recommended by the WHO, and PM10 slightly exceeded the indicated threshold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not frightening values, they are still within the limits of the European Union, but if we exceed a certain limit, they can influence the occurrence of diseases such as heart attack or stroke,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The highest levels of pollution were recorded in the cold season, when fine particles accumulate due to residential heating and atmospheric stagnation. Cluj-Napoca is located in a depression, which means that the city comes under a layer of cold air that does not allow the pollution formed at ground level to disperse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In summer, PM2.5 concentrations decrease, but PM10 particles remain a problem, especially in areas with heavy traffic. The highest values were found near roads, in dense urban areas and even in some residential neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Beyond daily averages, there were frequent and severe pollution peaks, with concentrations of up to six times above WHO recommendations. Such episodes can have acute effects on health, especially in children, the elderly, and individuals who engage in outdoor activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it comes to transportation, data showed that PM10 values have begun to decrease from year to year since 2020. \u201c<\/p>\n

This means that the current policies are good and should continue. The changing of the bus fleet, more bicycle lanes, green spaces, and electric cars have produced results,\u201d Luchiian argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not necessarily want us to be frightened by these data, but we must think that, over time, someone who raises their child in Cluj-Napoca might notice certain correlations,\u201d the coordinator of the Strop de Aer network concluded.<\/p>\n

Real-time data from the sensors placed in Cluj-Napoca can be found online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source:\u00a0LCVA<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Dreamstime.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The inhabitants of Cluj-Napoca, Romania\u2019s second-largest city, breathed polluted air in 222 days last year, according to a study carried out by the community network \u2018Strop de Aer\u2019 and cited by G4Media. The analysis, carried out on over 1.8 million measurements collected from 48 sensors installed by citizens, highlights the fact that pollution was not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}