"Breathe deeper": 15% of subway air contains skin particles

The Panhellenic Center for Environmental Research is once again sounding the alarm about air pollution in Athens. The air is heavy, and from the consequences of fires, the concentrations of carcinogenic hydrocarbons exceed permissible standards, and in the metro the situation is even worse, especially on the boarding and exit platforms.

It should be noted that these measurements were taken on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, after heavy morning rain.

PAKOE advises Attica residents to be very careful. Carcinogenic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere cause many health problems for citizens, especially vulnerable groups and children. Carcinogenic hydrocarbons irritate the respiratory system even in healthy people.

The first symptom is tears, followed by shortness of breath and pharyngitis (throat irritation), and with prolonged exposure the consequences for the human body are catastrophic.

Air pollution has become the fourth leading cause of premature death worldwide, costing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to the global economy, according to an annually updated World Bank report.

In particular, air pollution plus the effects of “home pollution” (from using solid fuels for heating or cooking) kills 5.5 million people every year.

Consequently, diseases caused by air pollution (cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, respiratory infections) are responsible for one in ten deaths worldwide. In fact, about 87% of the planet is exposed to some degree of pollution.

According to the same report, the 20 U.S. areas with the highest air loads and highest air pollution are in California due to fires and suspended particulates.

PAKOE systematically measures air quality in the metro, at ticket offices and on platforms, at various stations. For years PAKOE has warned that There is a serious health problem for workers, who are statistically showing higher rates of fatal diseases compared to other occupational sectors as air quality deteriorates. PAKOE has many times condemned the metro administration’s indifference to taking basic measures to improve air quality.

This indifference is scandalous and was demonstrated by the discovery that lines 2 and 3 of the Athens metro, which have been in operation since 2000 and serve millions of passengers every day, do not have an environmental license. The lack of environmental licensing was discovered after the tender for the extension of Line 2 (Greece-Antooupoli) to Ilion.

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