Air quality was “good” on only three days in the year ending March 15, 2023, charts published by Tehran Air Quality Control Company’s website, Airnow.tehran.ir, show.
The company said 191 days turned out to be moderate, 133 days remained unhealthy for sensitive groups, two days were unhealthy and two days were hazardous.
The index categorizes air conditions according to a measure of polluting matters into good (0-50), moderate (51-100), unhealthy for sensitive groups (101-150), unhealthy (151-200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (301-500).
TAQCC indicates that AQI did not hit “good” quality during Feb. 13-March 15.
Statistics show that the “moderate” status was recorded on 20 days, as AQI hovered between 51 and 100 during the period.
Sensitive groups in Tehran, who suffer the most from toxic air, were advised to limit outdoor activities on eight days, since AQI hovered between 101 and 150, marking an unhealthy status.
Children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with respiratory and cardiovascular problems are all categorized in the sensitive group.
“Unhealthy” status was recorded only on two days, as AQI hovered between 151-200 during the period under review.
High density of PM2.5 (particulate matters smaller than 2.5 micrometers) and PM10 were the main culprits behind the polluted days.
Comparative Data
Month-on-month comparisons showed Tehran’s air was healthier from Feb. 13-March 15 compared to Jan. 14-Feb. 13.
Charts illustrate that the “good” status was recorded on one day during the month to Feb. 13 as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” status prevailed during the period with the index remaining between 101 and 150 on seven days.
Air quality was moderate on 15 days, as AQI hovered between 51 and 100 in the month.
As AQI lingered between 151-200, the “unhealthy” status was recorded on eight days.
The AQI review during the year-ago month shows air quality in Tehran has deteriorated significantly.
During Feb. 13-March 15, 2022 (last year’s corresponding period), moderate air quality condition was registered on 22 days, but the index remained increasingly unhealthy for the sensitive group on nine days, compelling authorities to dissuade people from going outdoors unnecessarily.
AQI neither hit the emergency button, nor acquired good quality status during the period.
Transportation Major Source of Urban Air Pollution
The transportation network is the main source of air pollution in Iranian metropolises, because of the lack of electric vehicles, high fuel consumption of nonstandard vehicles and the widespread use of fossil fuels, according to an energy expert and a professor of Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology.
"We have 8-12 million motorcycles in the country that consume gasoline, and electricity has no share in our transportation network,” Hashem Oraee was also quoted as saying by Donyaye Khodro.
“Another important factor is the gas usage of power plants. According to the latest statistics, the power plants’ share of pollution is about 20% and the share of transportation network pollution is about 60%,” he added.
Oraee, who is also the founder and president of Iran Wind Energy Association, noted that 33% of the country's gas are used in power plants and the volume of gas pollution is lower than that caused by diesel and mazut, which replace gas in the winter.
"We are suffering from the imbalance in gas production and consumption, as well as the 90% dependence of domestic electricity grid on gas,” he said.
Stressing that currently, the most effective solution to lower air pollution caused by fuel consumption is to move toward electric vehicles, he said EVs hardly have a share in Iran’s transportation network and the domestic car manufacturing sector is lagging behind in EV technology.
“A car normally uses 4 liters of gasoline to travel 100 kilometers, which in Iran amounts to 8 liters in normal conditions and 10 liters in traffic. This means we’re consuming 2 to 2.5 times more gasoline than other countries to travel the same distance. This issue is related to problems in the domestic automotive industry that sees no reason to enhance vehicle quality due to the government’s imprudent support,” he said.
“This is while automobile manufacturers across the world have to improve their products’ quality to compete in the market. This issue makes them move toward electrification and improve their production technologies.”
Oraee noted that as Iranians are still lining up to buy cars with internal combustion engines, domestic automakers do not see the need to upgrade their technologies or embrace electrification.
