Air pollution in eastern Europe adds to pandemic health woes With the arrival of cold and foggy winter weather amid the pandemic, eastern Europe is facing an extra respiratory health hazard — air pollutionSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- With the arrival of cold and foggy winter weather amid the pandemic, eastern Europe is facing an extra respiratory health hazard — air pollution. Countries such as Bosnia and Serbia in the Balkans, and even European Union nations Poland and Croatia, traditionally report high levels of dangerous pollution from heating in winter months. The United Nations has warned in previous years that people in all major cities across the Western Balkans face alarming levels of air pollution that are reducing their life expectancies. The embassy uses its own air quality monitoring equipment to measure PM 2.5 fine particulate matter and define air quality. Lung disease specialist Tadeusz Zielonka told the Onet news portal this week that Poles face a particularly dangerous winter from the triple threat of smog, flu and COVID-19.

Source: ABC News December 17, 2020 14:41 UTC