Barcelona's Eixample neighborhood surpasses legal air pollution limit in 2022
Residents of Urgell, Nàpols, and Sant Antoni streets live in sites most exposed to nitrogen dioxide
The neighborhood of Eixample in Barcelona was the only district in the Catalan capital to surpass the legal air pollution limits in 2022, according to a report published by the city's public health agency.
Eixample surpassed the limit set by the European Union on nitrogen dioxide emissions of 40 µg/m3 by registering at 42 µg/m3 last year. The measurement stations showed an increase of NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 levels from 2021, though it's remained lower than the levels registered in 2019.
The same study shows that the Barcelona neighborhoods most exposed to NO2 are Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample, la Dreta de l'Eixample (between Urgell and Nàpols streets), and Sant Antoni.
Meanwhile, the average nitrogen dioxide throughout the city is below 40 µg/m3 for the third consecutive year. Despite the uptik after the Covid-19 pandemic, the downtrend of the last decade continues.
The maximum nitrogen dioxide levels ever registered was in 2005 when measurement stations recorded over 70 µg/m3 emissions of NO2, a figure that dropped to 50 µg/m3 in 2014 and have been below the EU legal limit since 2020.