It was to be expected.
The extremely mild temperatures and the virtual absence of wind since the beginning of the week have favored the stagnation of pollutants in the air and should lead to a new peak in fine particle pollution this Friday across the Island. -of France.
Airparif, the regional air quality measurement body, predicts that the “information threshold” for PM10 (particles of 10 microns) will be exceeded.
This threshold is set at 50 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air.
According to Airparif estimates, the maximum background pollution level could reach 55 µg/m3 for "at least 24 hours".
It is recommended to postpone non-emergency road trips
First level of the pollution alert system, the triggering of the information threshold does not lead to the implementation of traffic restriction measures… but is accompanied by numerous recommendations for both health and “roads”.
The ARS (regional health agency) thus advises the inhabitants of Île-de-France to favor “short outings” and to avoid intense physical and sporting activities throughout the duration of the pollution episode.
People with respiratory fragilities are also invited to avoid areas with heavy road traffic.
On the traffic side, the Paris Police Prefecture - which should issue its instructions this Thursday at the end of the afternoon - generally recommends road users to postpone non-urgent trips and to favor carpooling.
Another advice in the event of exceeding the information threshold: slow down by reducing the speed by 20 km/h compared to the usual limits on all the major axes of the region.
According to Airparif, the weather conditions expected on Saturday should lead to an improvement in air quality this weekend and a level of suspended PM10 which could drop below the information threshold.
This Friday's fine particle pollution episode will be the third since the start of 2022, after the two alerts issued a few days apart, on January 15 and 25.
Ten episodes of PM10 pollution were recorded over the whole of the previous year.
