3 february 2016

The Féliz Pizcueta Street, in Valencia, has been redeveloped with anti-pollution paving stones that reduce nitrogen monoxide. This project, funded by the European Union, has managed to clear the 72% of the nitrogen monoxide in this area and the nitrogen dioxide levels have decreased in almost a 30%.

These innovative paving stones were installed by Inndea Foundation and are a pilot project by Light2cat. The project was developed in different European cities like Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden) and aims at studying the impact of the installation of these special paving stones that absorb the atmospheric pollution when in contact with light. The first results were successful and it is expected to increase the area where this paving is installed. 

Féliz Pizcueta Street is in between Gran Via Marqués del Túria and Colon Street, in the city centre. A company from Castellón was in charge of manufacturing these paving stones and now they intend to continue the production and spread it out to other areas of the cities. The importance of keeping a city centre with a clean air is vital (it is possible to consult the air map of the city and the importance of a clean air here) as our health depends directly on it. Projects like this help to keep a clean city, which is not harmful for our health. 

Among the most damaging pollutants in the cities there are cars, as they are the main source of carbon monoxide. In the air of the city we can find unburnt hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxide, ozone and other photochemical oxidants, lead and, to a lesser extent, total suspended particles of sulphur dioxide and the volatile organic compounds. These gases are very harmful for our health and they can modify the biochemical and physiological processes in our body.

The respiratory diseases are one of the main causes of death in industrialised societies and affect our body at all ages: in children they usually appear as bronchial infections and in later ages they appear as infections that usually become chronic. 

Nowadays, anti-pollution policies are focused in creating overall plans to establish a quality scale of the air and the institutional answer that must be provided when these levels are high. Measures like the installation of anti-pollution paving stones can reduce pollution at a urban level in localised spots, but a wider anti-pollution policy is needed to keep the air in good conditions. 

If you want to know more about this project, you have more information here.