Prague - Prague City Hall is not speaking the truth when it claims that the artery road under construction that will cut through Prague's downtown will help to lower the air pollution in the Czech Republic's capital.
According to a yet unpublished report by the Prague City Hall´s Environmental Department and the National Institute of Public Health, the new artery road will cause exactly the opposite.
The pollution concentration will definitely not decrease, says the report that Aktuálně.cz has available; it will actually go up moderately, together with the risk of health problems.
The Environmental Department and the National Institute of Public Health examined how the new road would influence the surrounding areas of the tunnel and the concentration of nitrogen oxide, dust and benzene and what impact the new levels will have on residents' health.
The new artery road that will bring more cars to the Prague Castle area will link Malovanka with Letná and Trója.
"All the polluters will cause a moderate increase in health risks," the report says.
Limits exceeded now
It was Prague City Hall that first claimed that the new artery road would improve Prague´s environment which is one of the most polluted in the country owing to heavy traffic.
According to the yet unpublished report, the levels of nitrogen oxide and benzene in the air will increase by tens of micrograms per quadrate meter but neither night nor annual limits should not be exceeded.
On the other hand though, the situation concerning microscopic dust is much worse. The hygienic norms have been continously exceeded. The new artery road could even worsen the situation.
Respiratory problems on the rise
The National Institute of Public Health expects that a higher average concentration of nitrogen oxide will cause more chronic respiratory problems by 0.1 percent and asthmatic problems by 0.2 percent. Higher amounts of micro dust will increase respiratory diseases by 0.25 percent.
"Higher levels of benzene by 0.2 micrograms per a quadrate meter can increase the risk of cancer by 2 cases in one million of life long exposed people," the National Health Institute said.
Civic organizations have been pointing out the risks of the artery road for years.
