Air Pollution is Choking Bosnia, Experts Warn

Bosnian towns like Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica, Lukavac and Kakanj are suffering from serious problems with air pollution, experts from the Federal Hydro-Meteorological Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina [FHMZBiH] told BIRN.

"Sarajevo is definitely one of the most polluted cities in Europe when it comes to air pollution," said Enis Omercic, an air-quality expert for the FHMZBiH.

"The air pollution is even bigger in industrial cities like Tuzla and Zenica," Omercic added.

The airborne concentration of sulphur dioxide, a gas considered dangerous to human health, can sometimes exceed 1,000 microgrammes per cubic metre, according to official figures provided by the FHMZBiH.

A concentration of 500 microgrammes per cubic metre is considered risky enough to raise a warning, according to the FHMZBiH.

A high level of air pollution is at the root of serious medical conditions like lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to the World Health Organisation.

"The situation is very critical," Lejla Hatibovic, a specialist working for the Institute for Public Health of Sarajevo Canton, told BIRN.

Pollution from cars and the burning of coal, which is still used in industrial power plants and in many houses, are major contributors to the problem.

"Sarajevo used to be the most polluted city in Yugoslavia because people were burning coal to warm their houses," said Hatibovic.

"In the 1970s, the authorities decided to increase the use of gas heating, which helped a lot in reducing the air pollution. Unfortunately, after the war and with the worsening of the economic situation in Bosnia, a lot of people are going back to coal, as it's cheaper than gas," she said.

Despite the warnings, the Bosnian authorities haven't...