Of Luisa Monforte
Fog factor, the worst days are that of the Epiphany and the following. And on Sunday there is a stop to the cars
Rome in the grip of smog: for today and tomorrow, the ARPA del Lazio expects the PM10 limits set at 50 micrograms per cubic meter to be exceeded. Thanks to the absence of rain, for the Epiphany the whole city area inside the ring road will be a red zone, with values ranging from 50 to 75 micrograms per cubic meter. The situation in the areas of the center of the capital and in the ring from Eur to the Vatican, from Tufello to Pigneto and up to the Towers is more serious: they will be in the purple zone, an exceeding of the limits between 75 and 100 micrograms per cubic meter is foreseen. “And there are health risks,” observes Antonio Magi, president of the Rome Medical Association.
«As we have seen, in recent days, in Rome we wake up with the fog that retains the pollution – explains Magi -. Without rain, fine dust remains in the air and if inhaled for a long time can also lead to oncological diseases. There are some measures to protect yourself: «The first advice is to stay at home as much as possible, but if you really have to go out, I suggest wearing the famous mask we used for Covid: it is not decisive but it protects. The surgical one is not useful, the Ffp2 and above all the Ffp3 are fine, they retain the dust ». Also because the situation will improve tomorrow, but only slightly. The red zone will widen considerably to the western and southern borders, beyond the Gra, also embracing the areas of the Castelli Romani, but there will be a slight decrease in pollution, with values that will fall within the limits, in the northern quadrant of the capital between Labaro and Black Forest. The purple zone will also regress: the PM10 overshoot of over 75 micrograms per cubic meter will affect the historic center, the Vatican, Garbatella and Eur up to Mostacciano.
The Capitol in recent days has run for cover: with a stop to circulation on 4 January and the blockage of the boilers for 5 January. And an ecological Sunday is already planned for January 8, the day after tomorrow. “However, the operational intervention plan must be done over 5 days: if in the first three the control units register the overrun and in the following two days the forecasts are negative, the mayor issues an ordinance”, explains the councilor for the Capitoline Environment, Sabrina Alfonsi. This is what happened in recent days: on 2 January, due to New Year’s fireworks and air stagnation, there was an overrun on all the control units and forecasts for the following days were negative. Yesterday, however, the monitoring revealed that the limits were exceeded in only one control unit. «And for Sunday, with the blockage of cars, bad weather is expected: we expect normality to return from Monday. If this were not the case, there will be further measures », concludes the commissioner.
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