The contamination by PM2.5, the most harmful particles for health, doubled the limit of the Standard of Health in the metropolitan area of Monterrey during 2022, according to information released yesterday by the state government.
According to the figures, PM10 pollution also exceeded the permissible annual limit by 66 percent.
in the middle of that contamination well above the norm Environment Secretary released the statistics to show a downward trend from 2005 on both pollutants.
Compared to recent years, the average contamination by PM2.5 in 2022, which was 19.96 micrograms per cubic meter, was slightly lower than those registered since 2018, and in all of them the standard was doubled, whose limit is 10 micrograms.
In the case of PM10, the annual average of 59.66 micrograms per cubic meter is very little lower than that of 2021, but it is higher than those registered in 2020, 2019 and 2018, for example.
The annual limit for PM10 is 36 micrograms per cubic meter.
In the comparisons reported by Environmentthe highest annual averages for pollution by PM2.5 and PM10 occur between 2005 and 2008, in the first case, and between 2005 and 2011, in the second.
“There is a mistaken perception that air quality has been getting worse over time in the metropolitan area of Monterrey. It is quite the opposite,” said Alfonso Martínez Muñoz, head of the agency, when releasing the figures.
“(In) 2005, the annual average for particles smaller than 10 microns was 87.6 micrograms and it has been going down over time… and last year we had 59.66 micrograms.”
However, PM10 exceeded the standard limit by 66 percent in its 2022 average.
With a diameter 20 times less than that of a human hair, PM2.5 is the most harmful because it penetrates the lungs, bronchial tubes and bloodstream.
Martínez Muñoz said that the reduction of PM2.5 in the City from 2005 to 2022 was 33 percent.
“There are several theories that we are looking at,” he added, “first, that some companies have lowered their production, (that) other companies have invested in better tools to reduce the atmospheric pollution, (also) the vehicle issue, (and) that we also have better technologies in vehicles.”
Yesterday the metropolitan area registered again a strong contamination by PM10, with stations like Cadereyta and Juárez with extremely poor air quality.
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