Air quality
Air quality in Malpensa area
Atmospheric impact associated with the activities of airport systems concerns a number of main emission sources ranging from internal (airport grounds) and external vehicle traffic to emissions from the vehicles used for loading/unloading and ground assistance (handling), emissions due to the aircraft movements on the ground and their LTO (Landing Take Off) cycle.
As airport operator, SEA has no way of affecting the air carrier processes, such as the level of technological evolution of fleets and efficiency in terms of emissions, or the option to define routes and in-flight scenarios. It also cannot influence effects from external vehicular traffic closely related to the intermodality level charcterizing the local area of each airport.
To ensure effective control of air quality, the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA) of Lombardy monitors the presence of pollutants in atmosphere throughout the regional territory using 158 detection stations.
In province of Varese, air quality detection network consists of 7 fixed stations, 2 mobile stations and 4 gravimetric samplers for measuring fine dust.
The average monthly data, derived from daily values published by ARPA for Malpensa area, are derived from the 3 monitoring stations located in proximity to the airport (Ferno, Lonate Pozzolo, Somma Lombardo) and other units located in urbanized area (Busto Arsizio, Gallarate, Varese).
Monitoring areas adjacent to Malpensa - average monthly nitrogen dioxide values (NO2)
| NO2 Annual limit: 40 μg/m³ annual average | Ferno | Lonate | Somma Lombardo | Busto Arsizio | Gallarate | Varese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | |
| January | 50.1 | 54.6 | 59.1 | 48.2 | 51.7 | 72.4 |
| February | 43.6 | 45.0 | 53.3 | 38.3 | 51.5 | 55.1 |
| March | 35.3 | 34.3 | 46.3 | 38.3 | 45.1 | 48.0 |
| April | 24.0 | 22.1 | 33.7 | 26.1 | 30.5 | 36.6 |
| May | 21.6 | 20.8 | 27.0 | 23.0 | 29.6 | 35.4 |
| June | 11.0 | 21.2 | 25.7 | 18.9 | 21.6 | 28.8 |
| July | 11.5 | 20.6 | 23.8 | 20.5 | 20.0 | 33.4 |
| August | 9.4 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 16.2 | 16.1 | 26.9 |
| September | 18.9 | 28.2 | 25.1 | 21.1 | 40.2 | 33.6 |
| October | 27.0 | 28.9 | 28.0 | 24.4 | 39.4 | 30.8 |
| November | 42.2 | 40.9 | 38.2 | 22.5 | 46.4 | 36.3 |
| December | 58.0 | 52.5 | 51.6 | 35.4 | 59.1 | 52.3 |
Source: Arpa Lombardia, 2016
Nitrogen oxides in general (NOX), are produced during combustion processes due to the reaction that occurs at high temperatures between nitrogen and oxygen contained in the air. Therefore, such oxides are emitted directly into the atmosphere following all high temperature combustion processes (heating systems, vehicle motors, industrial combustion, power plants, etc.), by atmospheric ozone oxidation and, to a minor extent, by the oxidation of nitrogen compounds contained in the fuels.
Monitoring areas adjacent to Malpensa - average monthly particulate values (PM10)
| PM10 Annual limit: 40 μg/m³ annual average | Ferno | Busto Arsizio | Gallarate | Varese |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | |
| January | 53 | 55 | 56 | 44 |
| February | 31 | 25 | 33 | 30 |
| March | 28 | 21 | 29 | 26 |
| April | 23 | 19 | 25 | 27 |
| May | 14 | 13 | 16 | 17 |
| June | 15 | 14 | 17 | 16 |
| July | 18 | 18 | 22 | 19 |
| August | 16 | 15 | 17 | 15 |
| September | 26 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| October | 28 | 22 | 27 | 23 |
| November | 37 | 36 | 39 | 31 |
| December | 54 | 48 | 60 | 46 |
Source: Arpa Lombardia, 2016
Air quality in Linate area
For Linate area, we used the data of monitoring stations located in airport proximity (Limito-Pioltello and Milan-Parco Lambro), in addition to other monitoring stations in urban areas (Milan-Città Studi, Milan-Marche, Monza, Vimercate).
Monitoring areas adjacent to Linate - average monthly nitrogen dioxide values (NO2)
| NO2 Annual limit: 40 μg/m³ annual average | Limito Pioltello | Mi Citta studi | Monza | Vimercate | Mi Parco Lambro | Mi Marche |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | |
| January | 74.0 | 56.7 | 94.1 | 60.6 | 68.7 | 76.1 |
| February | 54.8 | 31.5 | 75.8 | 46.1 | 41.6 | 75.0 |
| March | 48.2 | 40.5 | 67.7 | 40.3 | 35.9 | 73.0 |
| April | 33.2 | 35.6 | 49.9 | 24.4 | 20.4 | 72.6 |
| May | 32.4 | 35.6 | 46.2 | 33.9 | 19.5 | 75.8 |
| June | 30.5 | 31.7 | 38.9 | 24.9 | 17.7 | 58.1 |
| July | 28.3 | 28.8 | 33.4 | 28.9 | 29.3 | 44.9 |
| August | 23.1 | 24.5 | 28.9 | 19.0 | 26.0 | 41.5 |
| September | 41.3 | 44.4 | 53.2 | 29.1 | 44.0 | 61.8 |
| October | 49.3 | 51.8 | 62.6 | 24.6 | 47.9 | 77.3 |
| November | 58.3 | 57.6 | 75.0 | 44.2 | 57.7 | 73.9 |
| December | 77.9 | 70.5 | 92.5 | 62.6 | 81.5 | 75.6 |
Source: Arpa Lombardia, 2016
Monitoring areas adjacent to Linate - average monthly particulate values (PM10)
| PM10 Annual limit: 40 μg/m³ annual average | Limito Pioltello | Mi Citta studi | Monza | Vimercate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | µg/m³ | |
| January | 63 | 69 | 65 | 65 |
| February | 36 | 40 | 36 | 42 |
| March | 30 | 33 | 31 | 32 |
| April | 28 | 34 | 30 | 34 |
| May | 18 | 22 | 20 | 21 |
| June | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 |
| July | 21 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| August | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
| September | 31 | 33 | 32 | 27 |
| October | 33 | 38 | 30 | 30 |
| November | 45 | 51 | 44 | 44 |
| December | 65 | 73 | 72 | 70 |
Source: Arpa Lombardia, 2016
Overall, on the basis of data gathered at both areas adjacent to Milan airports over the years, it has been noted that while airports are an important source of emissions, there is no significant difference in air quality around the airport compared to other areas of the provincial territory.