The reports concerning air quality published by WHO and EEA showed that 33 out of 50 cities with highest concentration of particulate matter (PM)2.5 in UE are located in Poland. Various investigations identify main health outcomes to be consistently related to PM10 and PM2.5. Increased concentration of PM is responsible for 47.3 thousands of premature deaths every year in Poland. The objective of this study was the measurement-based assessment for determining whether the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are within admissible limits or exceeded in Silesia Province. The data provided by the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice was used in the analysis. The measurements were made in years 2009–2016 for PM2.5 and 2014–2017 for PM10 in three measurement stations: two in Katowice (capital of Silesia Province) and one in Żory. The increase in the number of excessive levels of average daily PM10 concentration in year 2017 were observed in all three measurement stations, both for the acceptable level, information and alarm level, with lack or singular excessive levels in the previous years. The increase in average annual PM2.5 concentrations in year 2016 was also observed, as compared to the previous year in all three measurement stations. The highest pollution is observed in winter. The main cause of exceeded acceptable PM concentrations in Poland is household heating systems, boilers and furnaces burnt with coal or wood, and chimneys. In Silesian Province, the air quality is poor and has deteriorated over the last year.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10661-018-6797-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The significant mortality decrease can indicate to policy makers that it is necessary to prioritize policies to manage effective, innovative medical interventions. Topdown policy risk assessment is a useful methodological tool to present the full chain of interactions.

Although ozone (O3) plays a crucial role in screening the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere layers from the ultraviolet radiation, troposphere ozone is proven to have negative health effects on the human body and is one of the greenhouse gases. The objective of this study was to perform a measurement-based assessment for determining whether the concentration of ozone is within admissible limits, or exceeded, in Silesia Province and does not pose a threat to the local population. The data provided by the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice were used in the analysis. The received data constitute the result of 8-h measurements of concentrations of ozone at selected air monitoring stations of the Silesian province. The locations of three monitoring stations were found to be useful for the aim of this research; one site is situated in a rural background area; another one is located in a medium-sized city and the Katowice station is representative for an urban background situation. We used cluster analysis, weighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (WPGMA) and Chebyshev distances to test the hypothesis and compare empirical distributions in the general population. The alarm level has not been exceeded in indicated measurements stations in Silesian Voivodship in the period 2015–2017 (averaging time 1 h: 240 µg/m3 for 3 h). The target level was exceeded in 2015 at all three measurements stations and in the following years at one station (in Zloty Potok, 2016, and in Katowice, 2017). Each year, the largest number of exceedances occurred in August. The results clearly indicate a lack of hazards for the general population’s health in terms of increased concentrations of ozone in the city centers and outside. The results confirm that environmental conditions (i.e., landform, the area surrounding monitoring station) have a significant influence on the ozone level.

Many large neighbourhoods are located near heavy-traffic roads; therefore, it is necessary to control the levels of air pollution near road exposure. The primary air pollutants emitted by motor vehicles are CO, NO2 and PM. Various investigations identify key health outcomes to be consistently associated with NO2 and CO. The objective of this study was the measurement-based assessment for determining whether by high-traffic roads, such as motorways and express ways, and the concentrations of CO and NO2 are within normal limits and do not pose threat to the local population. Average daily values (arithmetic values calculated for 1-h values within 24 h or less, depending on result availability) were measured for concentrations of NO2 and CO by automatic stations belonging to the Voivodship Environmental Protection Inspectorate in Katowice, in areas with similar dominant source of pollutant emission. The measurements were made in three sites: near the motorway and expressway, where the average daily traffic intensity is 100983 and 35414 of vehicles relatively. No evidence was found of exceeding average daily values equal to the maximum allowable NO2 concentration due to the protection of human health in the measurement area of the stations. No daily average values exceeding the admissible CO concentration (8-h moving average) were noted in the examined period. The results clearly show lack of hazards for general population health in terms of increased concentrations of CO and NO2 compounds that are closely related to high intensity car traffic found on selected motorways and speedways located near the city centres.

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