Poor air quality in the Loire
“The Loire has an air quality index described as bad around Saint-Étienne and degraded in the rest of the department”, indicates Alexandre Thomasson, unit manager at the regional air quality observatory, Atmo Auvergne. Rhône-Alpes. Ozone, the main pollutant formed by sunshine and already existing polluting activities, is more important: 130 micrograms per cubic meter of air measured for this weekend.
However, the information and recommendation threshold of 180 micrograms per cubic meter of air was not exceeded. “Even if the air quality is qualified as bad, there is no activation of a prefectural device, specifies the expert, it will not be activated before Sunday or next Monday”, he concludes. Thanks to the wind coming from the North, the pollutants are dispersed in the air.
But as Alexandre Thomasson explains, “with the increase in heat, the wind which will calm down and the several days when the air masses have been loaded with ozone, we fear that a device will be triggered because of the overshoot information and recommendation threshold”.
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