The smog alert is back in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Rome and Milan : pm10 fine dust levels return within the threshold levels in all the provinces of the two regions, in the capital and in the Lombard capital.
In Emilia-Romagna the emergency measures, still valid throughout the day today, from January 21 will no longer be in force. Euro 4 diesel vehicles will therefore be able to return to circulation and there will be no limitations on the domestic use of biomass and on heating temperatures. The disturbance that affected the whole regional territory of Emilia-Romagna during the weekend of 18-19 January, reports the latest ARPAE bulletin, has led to a drastic reduction in the concentration of dust, bringing back the values recorded by the monitoring of the regional network within the limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter.
In Veneto, the regional air quality observatory of Arpav (Veneto Environmental Agency) reports that, after the bad weather days of the past few days, the alarm for the Pm10 threshold present in the atmosphere has returned. Therefore in the Veneto region from January 21st the level 0 "Green" returns. Local restrictions remain for some vehicles, the lighting of outdoor fires and limits such as the use of fuel on pallets and timber. In recent days, the "Red" level with traffic stops had started first in Vicenza and then in Treviso where the concentration of fine dust had reached the highest levels in the region. Venice, Padua and Rovigo, on the other hand, have long been on the "Orange" level. For the next few days, in addition to January 21st, the ARPAV provides the "Green" level until Thursday when the forecast data for the following days will be released.
Even in Rome after the period of crisis on the smog front, the PM10 has returned to its limits. All the units monitored by Arpa on 19 January recorded fine particles below the maximum threshold. The ARPA had predicted it in the last few days on the basis of the atmospheric change: already on Saturday, in fact, the eleven control units out of law (on Thursday and Friday) had dropped dramatically to two. Last week, to face the Pm10 alert, the Capitol ordered the stop of all Diesel engines for four days in a row, on January 19 instead the ecological Sunday took place in the city with further traffic restrictions.
In Milan from January 21st, the first and second level prohibitions and anti-smog restrictions have been lifted in the municipalities with more than 30,000 inhabitants and in those participating on a voluntary basis in the provinces of Milan, Cremona, Pavia, Lodi and Mantua where, for two consecutive days, the mean values of Pm10 were below the expected limit. This is what the Lombardy Region communicates in a note stating that the first-level measures in the municipalities involved in the province of Monza and Brianza remain in force.