SO2 concentrations

Dátum poslednej aktualizácie:16.01.2024

Téma

Ovzdušie

Značky

Definícia indikátora

The indicator describes the level of air pollution in Slovakia, i.e. the fulfillment of the limit or target values of air pollution for  SO2

Jednotka indikátora

µg/m3

Metadáta

Definitions related to the indicator:

The aim in air quality is to maintain air quality in places where air quality is good, and in other cases to improve air quality. Good air quality is the level of air pollution lower than the limit value and the target value. Air quality assessment is the determination of the level of air pollution using methods of measurement, calculation, prediction or estimation.

Emission - the penetration of air pollutants in the ground layer from the place of origin to another place is a consequence of the emission
Limit value - the level of air pollution determined on the basis of scientific knowledge in order to prevent, prevent or reduce harmful effects on human health or the environment, which is to be achieved at a given time and is not to be exceeded from that time. The limit value must not be exceeded by more than the tolerance limit from the established dates. The tolerance limit is the percentage of the limit value by which the limit value can be exceeded in accordance with the established conditions.
Target value - the level of air pollution determined in order to prevent, prevent or reduce harmful effects on human health or the environment, to be achieved at a given time, if possible. A critical level is a level of air pollution determined on the basis of scientific knowledge, when exceeding which direct adverse effects may occur on trees, other plants or natural ecosystems in addition to humans.
Total deposition - the total amount of pollutants that have been transferred from the atmosphere to the surface of soil, vegetation, water and buildings in a given area and at a given time
EMEP – European Monitoring and Evaluation Program – Program for monitoring and evaluation of long-range pollution transmission in Europe

AOT40 – target value of ozone exposure index for vegetation protection. AOT40 expressed in μg/m3.h is the sum of the differences between hourly concentrations greater
as 80 μg/m3 (= 40 parts per billion) and 80 μg/m3 during the given period using only 1-hour values measured each day from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central European Time (CET). The target value is 18,000 µg/m3.h (5-year average). The AOT40 value for forest protection is calculated in the same way as the AOT40 for vegetation protection, but for the period from April 1 to September 30. The reference level for reporting to the EC is 20,000 µg/m3.h. This value only applies to suburban, rural and background stations.

The program and the integrated air quality improvement program determine air quality improvement measures in air quality management areas for the purpose of achieving good air quality at a given time. In areas of air quality management in which limit values or target values for which the deadline for their achievement has already expired are exceeded, the program or integrated program shall determine appropriate measures to shorten the period during which the specified values are exceeded as much as possible . Programs can also include measures that are applied in action plans to ensure air quality, as well as special measures aimed at protecting sensitive groups of the population, including children.

Methodology:

Air quality is generally determined by the content of pollutants in the outdoor air. Air quality assessment is carried out in accordance with Act no. 146/2023 Coll. on air protection. The basic starting point for the assessment of air quality in the Slovak Republic are the results of measurements of the concentrations of pollutants in the air, which are carried out by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) at the stations of the National Air Quality Monitoring Network (NMSKO).

National Air Quality Monitoring Network (2022)


Source: SHMI

Zones and agglomerations form large territories and collectively cover the entire territory of Slovakia. In each zone, the spatial distribution of pollutant concentrations is quite variable – it usually includes areas with significant sources of emissions and degraded air quality, but also relatively clean areas without sources. In order to facilitate the management of air quality, the so-called areas of air quality management. These areas are a subset of individual zones - each zone can contain several.

If the measured concentrations of any pollutant in the air at a given monitoring station exceed the limit or target value in the monitored year, the relevant territory that the station represents with its measurement is, according to Act no. 146/2023 Coll. on air protection, declared to be the area of air quality management. The district office in the authority of the region is obliged to develop a Program for improving air quality for this area. If limit values or target values are exceeded for several pollutants, the district office in the regional headquarters will develop an integrated program for those areas. Monitoring and assessment of air quality is carried out by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMI) as an authorized organization in all agglomerations and zones for polluting substances for which limit values or target values are determined and for ozone precursors.
SHMI annually proposes a list of air protection areas based on air pollution monitoring (for a period longer than one year), while the list of zones and agglomerations remains unchanged. A pollutant is removed from the air protection areas list only after the concentrations of the pollutant at the station do not exceed the limit value for three years in a row.

Air quality assessment is being carried out
a) by permanent measurement in agglomerations or in zones where the level of air pollution by a given polluting substance is higher than the upper limit for assessing the level of air pollution, and in the case of arsenic, cadmium, nickel and benzo(a)pyrene, also in zones and agglomerations, in which the level of air pollution is between the upper limit and the lower limit for assessing the level of air pollution; permanent measurement can be supplemented by modeling techniques or indicative measurements in order to provide adequate information on the spatial distribution of air quality,

b) by a combination of permanent measurements, indicative measurements and modeling techniques in agglomerations and zones in which the level of air pollution is the same or higher than the lower limit for the assessment of the level of air pollution and the same or lower than the upper limit for the assessment of the level of air pollution,

c) by a combination of permanent measurements, indicative measurements and modeling techniques in agglomerations and zones in which the level of air pollution in a representative time period is between the upper limit and the lower limit for assessing the level of air pollution, if it concerns arsenic, cadmium, nickel and benzo(a )pyrene,

d) modeling techniques or objective estimation techniques in agglomerations and zones in which the level of air pollution is lower than the lower limit for assessing the level of air pollution.

Source of data:

SHMI
 

Related indicators:

Related indicators on an international scale:

Links to the issue:

Väzba indikátora k rozvojovým dokumentom a cieľom

Limit values for assessing the level of air pollution according to Decree of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic no. 250/2023 Coll. on air quality

Limit values for the protection of human health
Pollutant Average period Limit value
PM10 1 day 50 µg/m3 must not exceed more than 35 times per calendar year
calendar year 40 µg/m3
PM2,5 calendar year Since January 1, 2020: 20 µg/m3
SO2 1 hour 350 µg/m3 must not be exceeded more than 4 times per calendar year
1 day 125 µg/m3 must not be exceeded more than 3 times per calendar year
NO2 1 hour 200 µg/m3 must not be exceeded more than 18 times per calendar year
calendar year 40 µg/m3
CO The largest daily 8-hour mean value1) 10 mg/m3
Pb calendar year 0,5 µg/m3
Benzene calendar year 5 µg/m3

Note:

1) The largest daily 8-hour mean concentration is selected by examining 8-hour moving averages calculated from hourly data and updated hourly. Each 8-hour average calculated in this way is assigned to the day on which it ends, i.e. j. the first calculation period for any single day is the period from 5:00 p.m. the previous day until 1:00 a.m. of the given day; the last calculation period for any one day is the period from 4:00 p.m. until the end of the given day.


Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030) was approved by the UN General Assembly (including Slovakia) in September 2015 ("Transforming our world: Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development") and represents the most comprehensive set of global priorities for achieving sustainable development to date. The 2030 Agenda builds on the UN Millennium Declaration from 2000 and calls on states to take a coordinated approach to solving global challenges. The goals of sustainable development that it sets concern all countries of the world, regardless of their level of economic and social development. Its key principles are transformation, integration, and universality. It contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed into 169 related sub-goals, which aim to guide the structural political, economic, and social transformation of individual countries in the world in response to the threats facing humanity today. It connects all three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. The 2030 Agenda is not legally binding. It expresses the intention of countries to lead their development towards sustainability and to set their national policies, strategies, and planning to contribute to the achievement of global goals. The Slovak Republic signed up for the implementation of Agenda 2030 in the document "Starting points for the implementation of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development" approved by Government Resolution no. 95/2016, while he perceives it primarily as an opportunity and a means to determine long-term priorities for the development of our country. The elaboration of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for the conditions of the Slovak Republic will largely take place in the form of updating existing sectoral plans and concepts. In this context, it was established by the resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic no. 350 of July 24, 2017, of the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which will ensure that the issue of sustainable development becomes an integral part of all public policies.

The European Green Deal The European

Green Deal represents the European Commission's plan for the ecological transformation of the European Union's economy in the interests of a sustainable future. Its primary goal is to ensure that by 2050 Europe will be the first-ever climate-neutral continent. The given long-term goal means that by 2050 the EU will transform into a fair and prosperous society with a modern and competitive economy that uses resources efficiently, where net greenhouse gas emissions will be zero, and where economic growth does not depend on the use of resources.

Greener Slovakia – Environmental Policy Strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 (Envirostrategy 2030)

The environmental strategy is a basic strategic document for the environment with long-term goals aimed at the transition to a green, low-carbon, and inclusive economy. The Envirostrategy 2030 defines the vision until 2030 (to achieve a better quality of the environment and a sustainable circular economy using as few non-renewable natural resources and hazardous substances as possible), identifies basic systemic problems, sets goals for 2030, and proposes framework measures to improve the current situation.

Climate change adaptation strategy of the Slovak Republic - update

The main goal of the updated adaptation strategy is to increase the resilience and improve the preparedness of the Slovak Republic to face the adverse consequences of climate change and establish an institutional framework and coordination mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of adaptation measures at all levels and in all areas. The achievement of the main goal of adaptation should contribute to the fulfillment of sub-goals, which are: ensuring the active creation of a national adaptation policy, implementing adaptation measures and monitoring their effectiveness, strengthening the projection of the goals and recommendations of the adaptation strategy within the framework of multi-level public governance and business support, raising public awareness on the issue of climate change, support for synergy between adaptation and mitigation measures and the use of an ecosystem approach in the implementation of adaptation measures, and support for the reflection of the goals and recommendations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The strategy tries to connect scenarios and possible consequences of climate change with proposals for suitable adaptation measures in the widest possible range of areas and sectors. From the point of view of adaptation to the adverse consequences of climate change, the key areas and sectors are considered to be: rock environment and geology, soil environment, natural environment and biodiversity, water regime in the country and water management, residential environment, population health, agriculture, forestry, transport, tourism traffic, industry, energy and other areas of business and the area of risk management.

Low-carbon development strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 with a view to 2050

The Slovak Republic is fully aware of the seriousness and extent of the threat posed by climate change. It is also for this reason that Slovakia, as well as the entire EU and dozens of other countries around the world, have committed to achieving climate neutrality as early as 2050. The low-carbon development strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 with a view to 2050 (hereafter the strategy) aims to select and analyze measures in a cost-effective manner, while support from the relevant departments and state and public administration bodies will be essential for implementation and, what is important, that were these policies and other unrelated policies cross-sectionally interconnected and consistent both between individual departments and within individual departments. The strategy represents a cross-sectional document across all sectors of the economy, which must be done by individual policies in such a way that they complement each other in order to meet the common goal, which is to completely decarbonize the whole of Slovakia by the middle of this century. Slovakia set this ambitious goal only at the last stage of the preparation of this strategy (when the modeling had already been completed), and therefore only less ambitious scenarios of emission reductions (and increasing captures) that do not get us to climate neutrality are analyzed in detail.

National emission reduction program of the Slovak Republic
Among the biggest environmental challenges of the Slovak Republic are also the goals based on Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of certain air pollutants, which amends Directive 2003/35/EC and repeals Directive 2001/81/EC.
These are commitments to reduce emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia and PM2.5, dust particles by 2030. To achieve these goals, the MoE of the Slovak Republic has currently developed a draft of the National Emissions Reduction Program, in which policies and measures for achieving the aforementioned national commitments in two stages: the period from 2020 to 2029 and the period from 2030 onwards.
The National Emissions Reduction Program contributes to the achievement of air quality targets under Directive 2008/50/EC, as well as ensuring compliance with plans and programs set out in other relevant policy areas, including climate, energy, agriculture, industry, and transport. At the same time, this will support the transfer of investments into clean and efficient technologies.

Kľúčová otázka

Is good air quality being achieved, is the pollution level below the limit value for SO2?

Kľúčové zistenia

  • In 2022, there were no exceedances of the limit value for the protection of human health for 24-hour SO2 concentrations, the average hourly SO2 concentration exceeded the value of 350 μg·m–3 1 time (the limit value sets a maximum of 24 exceedances) was exceeded at 1 monitoring station
  • The limit value of SO2 in the air set for the protection of vegetation was not exceeded.
Zmena od roku 2005 Zmena od roku 2015 Posledná medziročná zmena
emo_smile Pozitivny trend Pozitivny trend
A clearly positive trend was recorded. In recent years, there has been no case of exceeding the warning threshold at the monitoring stations in Slovakia. The measured concentrations have been below the limit value for a long time. Even in spite of one exceeding of the average 1-hour concentration at the station in Rovinka, we can consider the development trend as positive.

 

Sumárne zhodnotenie

Evaluation of air pollution according to limit values for human health protection (2022)  
AGGLOMERATION
Zone

 

Health and safety

Pollutant

SO2

Averaging period

1 hod

24 hod

Parameter počet prekročení počet prekročení

Limit value (µg.m–3)

350

125

Maximum number of exceedances allowed

24

3

BRATISLAVA

Bratislava, Kamenné nám.

 

 

Bratislava, Trnavské Mýto

 

 

Bratislava, Jeséniova

0

0

Bratislava, Mamateyova

0

0

Bratislava, Púchovská 0 0

KOŠICE

Košice, Štefánikova

0

0

Košice, Amurská

 

 

Veľká Ida, Letná    

Banskobys­trický
kraj

Banská Bystrica,Štefánik. náb.

0

0

Banská Bystrica, Zelená

 

 

Jelšava, Jesenského

 

 

Hnúšťa, Hlavná

 

 

Lučenec, Gemerská cesta    

Zvolen, J. Alexyho

 

 

Žarnovica, Dolná    

Žiar nad Hronom, Jilemnického

 

 

Bratislavský kraj

Malacky, Mierové nám.2)

0

0

Pezinok, Obrancov mieru    
Rohožník, Senická cesta 2) 0 0
Rovinka 1 0
Senec, Boldocká    

Košický
kraj

Kojšovská hoľa    
Trebišov, T.G. Masaryka    

Strážske, Mierová

 

 

Krompachy, SNP

0

0

Nitriansky kraj

Nitra, Janíkovce

 

 

Nitra, Štúrova

0

0

Komárno, Vnútorná Okružná*    
Plášťovce    

Prešovský
kraj

Gánovce Meteo. st.    

Humenné, Nám. slobody

 

 

Prešov, arm. gen. Ľ. Svobodu

 

 

Vranov nad Top., M.R.Štefánika

0

0

Stará Lesná, AÚ SAV, EMEP

 

 

Starina Vodná nádrž, EMEP    

Kolonické sedlo

 

 

Poprad, Železničná    
Bardejov, Pod Vinbargom    

Trenčiansky
kraj

Prievidza, Malonecpalská

0

0

Bystričany, Rozvodňa SSE

0

0

Handlová, Morovianska cesta

0

0

Púchov, 1.mája 0 0

Trenčín, Hasičská

0

0

Trnavský
kraj

Senica, Hviezdoslavova

0

0

Trnava, Kollárova

 

 

Topoľníky, Aszód, EMEP

0

0

Sereď, Vinárska    

Žilinský
kraj

Chopok, EMEP     
Liptovský Mikuláš, Školská 0 0

Martin, Jesenského

 

 

Oščadnica* 0 0

Ružomberok, Riadok

0

0

Žilina, Obežná

 

 

Note:
  Marking of yield: ≥ 90% of valid measurements Exceeding the limit value is marked in red

*) the Malacky monitoring station stopped measuring on 4/29/2022 and was replaced by AMS in Rohožník on 8/5/2022
Source: SHMI

Podrobné zhodnotenie

This pollutant was monitored at 20 stations. The minimum required monitoring scope has been met. Sulfur dioxide monitoring was provided continuously, using the reference method, at all 20 stations. The required number of valid measured data (90%) was achieved at 18 monitoring stations. The measurement of SO2 at AMS Oščadnica started at the beginning of 2022. The monitoring station Malacky was replaced by AMS in Rohožník.

Sulfur dioxide

Large industrial sources and system energy (thermal power plants) contribute mainly to SO2 emissions. In the winter months, household heating with coal with a high sulfur content may have an effect, however, high concentrations of SO2 were not recorded, it is probably a minor method of heating in the Slovak Republic. In Rovinka, the average hourly SO2 concentration exceeded the value of 350 μg·m–3 1 time (the limit value sets a maximum of 24 exceedances). In 2022, no case of exceeding the warning threshold occurred at the monitoring stations in Slovakia. The measured concentrations are below the limit value for a long time. The critical value for vegetation protection is 20 μg·m–3 per calendar year and winter period. This limit value was not exceeded during 2022 at any of the EMEP stations, neither for the calendar year nor for the winter period. All values were below the lower limit for evaluating the level of outdoor air pollution with regard to vegetation protection.

 

In contrast to PM and benzo(a)pyrene, SO2 emissions are mainly contributed by large industrial sources and energy. The share of household heating in total emissions is less than 10%. Locally, the impact of small sources can be more pronounced in areas where coal is used to a greater extent for heating households. The spatial distribution of SO2 concentrations in Slovakia was calculated by the CMAQ model, using meteorological data from the ALADIN model. The most important SO2 emissions are from high-altitude sources (chimneys of industrial or energy plants). These sources were obtained from the NEIS (National Emissions Information System) database for the territory of the Slovak Republic. SO2 emissions from large and medium sources recorded in the NEIS database were included in the calculation.

The most important sources of SO2 are U.S. Steel Košice, s.r.o., SLOVNAFT, a.s. (Bratislava), Slovalco, a.s. (Žiar nad Hronom) and Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. (Nováky power plant). According to preliminary data, SO2 emissions registered in the NEIS database decreased in 2022 compared to 2021, mainly due to the energy crisis and the subsequent reduction in production. For example, annual SO2 emissions from aluminum production (Slovalco, a.s.) decreased more than twice. Furthermore, SO2 emissions from local heating and emissions from road transport (which in the case of SO2 represent less than 1% of total emissions) were included in the simulation.

Measured average annual concentrations of SO2 have been low in recent years. It seems that with such low values, we have reached the level of sensitivity of SO2 measuring devices (analyzers), therefore, in the case of average annual SO2 concentrations, we do not calibrate the model to the values of measured concentrations. On the resulting map of average annual concentrations of SO2 from the modeling, it can be seen that the highest concentrations are in locations with a direct reach of significant point sources.

Average annual SO2 concentrations in 2022

 

Source: SHMI

Kontakt na spracovateľa

Ing. Dorota Hericová, SAŽP, dorota.hericova@sazp.sk