Smog emergency continues in Lombardy

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 20 - Lombardy's smog emergency continued on Tuesday, with restrictions on the use of high-emitting vehicles in nine of the region's 12 provinces, including Milan, because of air-pollution levels.
    Regional environment agency ARPA said Tuesday that the air-quality tests it did on Monday for pm10 fine particles remained above the legal limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre in many areas.
    It said the value for the province of Milan went from a minimum of 73 to a maximum of 122, while that for Monza and Brianza reached 111, at Como it got up to 78, and it reached 100 at Lecco, and 94 at Varese.
    The smog situation in the region has also been at the centre of media attention after IqAir, a Swiss company that makes air-monitoring and air-purification products, said Milan's air-quality was the third worst in the world after Chengdu in China and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
    Milan Mayor Beppe Sala hit back, saying the data provided by this private entity was "not serious".
    The forecast arrival of rain and wind later in the week is expected to ease the smog situation in Lombardy and other parts of the Po Valley. The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), meanwhile, said Tuesday that around 80,000 premature deaths are attributable to air pollution in Italy each year, the highest level in Europe. (ANSA).