Pollution caused by dilapidated cars is 50 times higher than that of Euro-4-complaiant cars, and 22 times more than Euro-2 cars, head of the Transportation and Fuel Management Organization said Tuesday.
Around 1.4 million dilapidated cars were scrapped by March 2014, with an additional 228,000 cars scrapped last year, Alireza Feiz was quoted by ILNA as saying.
The anti-air pollution law was also revised after 10 years, following the second meeting of the Supreme Council of Environment headed by President Hassan Rouhani, held on Monday in Tehran.
New emission standards were set out for motor vehicles. The new law also required regular inspection of automobile manufacturers to ensure that production is conforming to Euro-4 standard. Standards on mandatory technical check-ups were also revised. However, the number of vehicles which comply with Euro-4 emission standards is still low.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
The Iranian capital's air has had many critical days. Even though Tehran Air Quality Control Company (AQCC) published statistics indicating more clean air days in Tehran this year, a closer look at the figures reveal 1,688 unclean days that by far outnumber the only 219 clean days out of 5,840 in 16 years.
Eight tons of fine particulates are generated from Tehran's daily traffic. Motorcycle carburetors dominate the city, which are a far cry from Euro-2 and Euro-3 standards. At present, motorcycles and trucks are the main causes of Tehran's air pollution.
During the current Iranian calendar year (ends March 20), 85 days have been recorded as unhealthy and 3 days have been registered as "very unhealthy and risky", while in the previous year the numbers were 113 days and 10 days, respectively.
