These are the most polluted cities in Italy

Air pollution in Italian cities shows no sign of decreasing. According to the report of Città 2025 “of Legambiente, 2024 was a black year for air quality, with 25 provincial capitals that exceeded the limits of PM10 and 45% of the cities that does not respect future standards on nitrogen dioxide (No2). Milan, Naples, Verona, Palermo and many other urban realities breathe an unhealthy airwith serious risks to public health. But how did this situation come and, above all, what can be done to solve it?

The most polluted cities in Italy

The fine dust (PM10) are one of the most dangerous pollutants for human health, deriving mainly from traffic, domestic heating and industrial activities. In 2024, the most affected cities were:

In addition to the PM10, nitrogen dioxide (no2), Mainly generated by vehicular traffic, it shows worrying levels. 45% of cities do not respect future European limitswith Naples and Palermo recording concentrations of 40 µg/m³, followed by Milan and Como with 33 µg/m³.

The consequence? A quality of the air that worsens the health of citizens, increasing the risk of respiratory, cardiovascular diseases and premature deaths. According to the World Health Organization, Air pollution is among the main causes of avoidable deaths in Europe.

The causes: traffic, heating and intensive agriculture

The problem of smog in Italy is not new, but worsens due to slowness in the adoption of effective measures. The vehicular traffic The main responsible remains, especially in large cities where the number of vehicles in circulation is still too high. To this are added the obsolete heating systems and emissions of the agro-zootechnical sectorparticularly in the Po Valley, where the high density of intensive farms contributes to worsen the quality of the air.

Another critical factor is the meteorology: in areas such as the Po Valley, geographical conformation and climatic conditions favor the accumulation of pollutants in the atmospheremaking it even more difficult to disperse them.

2030: a goal at risk without drastic interventions

The European Union has set new air quality standards that will come into force in 2030, lowering the limits of PM10 and no2 to reduce the impact on public health. However, the data show that Italy is still very far from achieving these goals. If drastic measures are not adopted, many cities will remain out of the norm, exposing the country to heavy penalties and, above all, putting citizens’ health at risk.

The solutions

To deal with the smog emergency, Legambiente proposes a series of urgent interventions:

City 2030: the campaign for a future without smog

In this context, Legambiente launched the “Città2030” campaign, a journey through 20 Italian cities to raise awareness of citizens and administrations on solutions for sustainable mobility and better air quality. The goal is to create a direct comparison with the institutions e promote concrete initiatives to improve urban livability.

The final stage will be held in Rome with the “Mobility Forum”, a meeting between experts, politicians and representatives of the automotive sector to discuss ecological transition strategies.