HIGH PM10 CONCENTRATIONS IN COUNTRIES OF EUROPEAN UNION 23 HIGH PM10 CONCENTRATIONS IN COUNTRIES OF EUROPEAN UNION BORUT JEREB, Professor Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Celje, Slovenia e-mail: borut.jereb@fl.uni-mb.si MATJAŽ KNEZ, Professor e-mail: matjaz.knez@fl.uni-mb.si Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Celje, Slovenia NIVES PODBEVŠEK, bachelor student Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Celje, Slovenia e-mail: nives.podbevsek@gmail.com ABSTRACT High PM10 concentrations in countries of European Union are nowadays a problem, with which is struggling every country not only in European Union but in the whole world. PM10 particles are dangerous for humans, because they can penetrate deeply into the human’s body and can cause different diseases. European Commision presented Air Quality Directive, in which they defined the highest allowed values for PM10 concentrations in the air. Every country is trying to reduce this pollution, they are searching for different solutions mostly in the field of transport. Some countries are already aware of this global problem, some are just realizing, how PM10 particles can harm not only people, but also the entire environment. KEYWORDS: European Air Quality Directive, European Union, PM10, pollution, solutions JEL Classification: Q53. ORIGINALNI NAUČNI ČLANAK / Original scientific paper Primljeno / Received: September 15, 2014 Prihvaćeno / Accepted: December 27, 2014 1. INTRODUCTION Pollution is one of the biggest factors that can negatively affect people’s lives. It can cause different diseases, poisoning of the soil, nevertheless it can also affect the wildlife. We can say that the largest pollutions in countries of European Union (EU) are occurring mostly in the fields of energy, industry, transport (by road and by sea) and agriculture. Consequently some of the main air pollutants are ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), mainly nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur oxides (SO x ), mainly sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), benzene (C 6 H 6 ), ammonia (NH 3 ) and particulate matter PM. [1] The solid particle or PM – particle matter is expression for dust that is present in the air for a given peri- od of time. Particulate matters that are suspended in the air, are called aerosols. [2] In the air they are occur- ring in the form of water drops, which are containing either solid or liquid particles. Aerosols can remain in the air for several weeks. They are usually washed from the air with precipitation. [3] We distinguish natural and anthropogenic particles PM. [3] The natural sources of particulate matter in- clude land, sea salt, dust due to wildfires, erosion of rocks, volcanic dust, pollen, etc. Among the anthropo- genic sources of particulate matter we find particles that result from human activities for example particles from internal combustion engines (trucks, trains, planes, cars), transport by road (brake wear, tire wear, roads), particles from agriculture (production of food), construction sites, cement production, waste- incineration plants, power plants, tobacco smoke and dust from small boilers (boilers, furnaces, stoves, fire- places, etc.). [4] We also distinguish primary particles, which pass into the atmosphere directly from the sources and secondary particles that are created by the chemical reactions (they include the so-called PM preliminary gases). [5] PM particles are mostly dangerous to human health because of their ability to penetrate deeply into human’s body. [6] The most known particles are particles with size of 10 (known as PM10) or 2.5 (known as PM2.5) microns. PM10 particles can get into the lungs (bronchi), while PM2.5 particles might get even into the pulmonary bubbles. [4] Montenegrin Journal of Ecology / Crnogorski časopis za ekologiju, Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 2014), 23-29