With the arrival of cold weather, cities throughout the western Balkans found themselves covered in thick smog, mainly caused by exhausts from old cars and thousands of household chimneys spewing smoke from the burning of logs and coal for heating.

According to data by the World Health Organisation (WHO), five out of Europe’s top ten most polluted cities are in the Balkans – Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Pljevlja in Montenegro; Skopje, Tetovo, and Bitola in Macedonia.

WHO warns that these pollution levels are damaging to the local economy as well as for human health. According to their 2016 estimate, air pollution had caused more than 37,000 deaths in the western Balkans, which has a population of 23 million.

One of the most polluted cities is Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo, which is completely shrouded in thick smog in the wintertime. A key contributor to the massive air pollution levels are some 150,000 cars travelling around Sarajevo streets every day, with an average age of 18 years. Another is the widespread burning of coal and logs for heating, resulting in thousands of household chimneys adding enormous amounts of smoke to the mix.

Earlier this month, the average concentration of particles in the air breathed by Sarajevo’s 340,000 residents was 320 micrograms per cubic meter, while in some parts of the city it exceeded 400, eight times more than the maximum recommended value.

A United Nations report released in January 2018 said that due to air pollution every year 44,000 lives are lost in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, estimates say that the work and school hours lost due to pollution, and health and other related costs, amount to as much as 21.5 percent of the country’s GDP.

Macedonia’s capital Skopje is also plagued by the problem of air pollution. According to WHO charts of mean concentrations of coarser PM10 and finer PM2.5 particles, the city was ranked as Europe’s most polluted city in 2018.

Although the demand for home air purifiers exploded in recent years, it can do little to help residents who must battle health conditions, with some school teachers saying that the numbers of children constantly coughing at school has never been so high.

Meanwhile, Macedonia’s Health Minister, Venko Filipce, announced that the government would distribute 43,000 anti-pollution masks to people suffering from chronic diseases.

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