A vehicle emissions and air quality in Zagreb and Koromačno, Croatia

This paper deals with the main pollutants in the air and their impact on particularly important quality or air, which affects the quality of human life. In order to preserve the quality of air, wildlife and ecosystem in general, it is necessary to be familiar with the basic concepts related to air quality, such as air quality index, on the one hand, and with appropriate regulations (directives, laws, policies) that include longterm goals and measures for their implementation, on the other hand. One of the most important directives, the Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe defines the limit values for particular pollutants. Since this Directive is mandatory for all Member States of the European Community, this paper gives a short overview of the fundamental regulations of this Directive. An analysis of the data on pollutant concentrations is carried out in terms of the limit values specified in the Directive. The data are obtained from the measuring stations in Zagreb and Koromačno (cities in Croatia). Due to a specific way of pollution assessment, the data are presented in diagrams using an application, designed for this purpose, which enables easy comparisons and interpretation of the data. The application also allows limit values and the alert threshold to be plotted for each pollutant. The results show specific patterns of changes in the pollutant concentrations in relation to emissions of road motor vehicles.