Bulgaria’s Suffocating Cities: Ten Major Urban Areas Report Serious Air Pollution Problems

Concentration of fine particulate matter higher than maximum admissible (MAC) was reported in ten Bulgarian cities on Tuesday morning: Sofia, Plovdiv, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Rousse, Pleven, Bourgas, Shoumen, Vidin, Smolyan, and Vratsa, according to the Environment Executive Agency.

The highest pollution level was reported in three residential districts in Sofia: 1.99 times above MAC in Nadezhda, 1.92 times higherin the Hippodrome neighborhood, and 162 in Pavlovo.

The MAC values were exceeded 1.96 times in Gorna Oryahovitsa and Rousse, Northern Bulgaria.

In Plovidiv's Trakiya neighborhood it was exceeded 1.67 times, and 1.53 times in Kamenitsa. In the Dolno Ezerovo residential district in Bourgas, the standard was exceeded 1.36 times, 1.35 in Shoumen, 1.34 in Smolyan, 1.12 in Vidin, and 1.05 in Vratsa.