In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), especially in Tuzla, Zenica, Sarajevo and Banja Luka, where examinations were carried out, 5.000 people die every year due to air pollution.
This is written in the latest report ‘’Air Pollution and Human Health: The Case of the Western Balkans’’ which states that air pollution is directly responsible for one of the five premature deaths in our region.
The UN Environment Department has concluded that, on average, Western Balkan residents lose 1.3 years of their lives as a result of pollution, because dust, soot and smoke particles are linked to the appearance of cardiovascular disease, which is five times more frequent than the WHO guide average.
However, this devastating, alarming and monitory information is only news for a day, at most two. There is no specific action by the competent domestic institutions. We can only observe the statistics.
In Zenica, Lukavac and Tuzla, it doesn’t matter what season is at the moment. Air pollution is constant.
This is a consequence of the industrial plants in these cities, so in Zenica, instead of the allowed three, the limit values of sulfur dioxide concentrations were exceeded in 124 days during the last year and as many as 252 days in 2014!
For less than half a year, the citizens of Zenica could breathe clean air, so it is not surprising that WHO data states that, on average, about 250 citizens die in Zenica due to pollution issues.