Over 92 percent of Turkey's population is exposed to polluted according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) air, as routine checks of air quality are rarely carried out throughout the country, according to a report prepared by the platform "Right to clean air", reports "Hurriet Daily News", reported BTA.
The study claims that the authorities in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir counties do not carry out proper and routine assessment of particulate matter PM10 (Latin letters) and carcinogenic PM2.5, which contribute to air pollution.
Although there is an air quality monitoring infrastructure in Turkey, it is not being used effectively in this sense, said platform coordinator Deniz Gümüşel in his speech at the press conference to present the report. The national legislative limit for air pollution is set at a maximum of 40 micrograms per cubic meter. Air pollution levels in Istanbul and Ankara approach this limit, while in Izmir they exceed the standard.
According to the report, the top 10 counties in the country with the highest PM2.5 values are also those with the highest percentage of air pollution-related deaths. Accordingly, the southeastern district of Hakkiari emerged as the district with the highest levels of air pollution and resulting deaths, overtaking Batman District, which held the top spot the previous year.
According to Prof. Çigdem Çağlayan, a public health specialist, a total of 68,440 deaths could have been avoided in 2022 if the average PM2.5 levels in all Turkish counties were lowered to the WHO-recommended value of 5 microgram per cubic meter.
„Air pollution is a contributing factor to 14.2 percent of all deaths among people over the age of 30 in 2022, excluding deaths from accidents, injuries and COVID-19,” she said. . According to Prof. Gamze Varol, one of the most remarkable revelations in the report is the link between air pollution and breast cancer. Research conducted in the US found that people who live in areas with higher exposure to PM2.5 have an 8 percent higher incidence of breast cancer, Varol pointed out.