Milan adds sensors to support air quality improvements

The City of Milan has partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to deploy a network of air quality sensors to collect local data on air pollution.

In collaboration with the Agenzia Mobilità Ambiente e Territorio (AMAT) – the city agency responsible for local air quality monitoring – the 30 “ultra-compact” sensor microstations will be installed near schools and other priority sites, and will be integrated into the existing air quality monitoring network of Lombardy’s Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA).

The new sensors will help evaluate the effectiveness of policies and actions to protect areas from air pollution and support Milan to deliver on its Air Quality and Climate Plan.

“Today Milan can count on a reliable network of ten air quality stations,” said Milan’s Green and Environment Councilor Elena Grandi.

“The donation of these [new] sensors will enable us to better understand our city’s air and support us to make more impactful decisions for Milan neighbourhoods.”

Data collected from the new sensors will be analysed by AMAT, in collaboration with ARPA Lombardia, and integrated with information from the existing network of sensors that are managed by ARPA and the Municipality of Milan.

“The world’s leading cities recognise that communities need clean air for their health and livelihoods – and Milan is working to do just that,” said Antha Williams, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ environment programme.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies is glad to partner with Mayor Sala to increase the city’s access to data to help take a targeted and informed approach to cleaning Milan’s air and provide valuable lessons and solutions for other cities around the globe.”

Pollution problem

The northern region of Italy – the country’s industrial heartland – has long been ranked among the worst areas in Europe for polluted air, according to the European Environment Agency.

Along with Turin, Milan was named as one of Italy’s ‘smog capitals’ in a report released earlier this year by Italian environmental watchdog Legambiente.

Speaking at the time, Stefano Ciafani, President of Legambiente, said “Air pollution is not only an environmental problem, but also a health problem of great importance.”

“In Europe, it’s the main cause of premature death due to environmental factors.”

Italy has more than 52,000 deaths per year caused by PM2.5 emissions, equal to a fifth of those recorded across the continent.

In February 2019, Milan introduced a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), banning high-polluting vehicles from an area covering 70 percent of the city.

Image: daryan-shamkhali