PM2.5 in large Polish cities: the 2025 average exposure indicator exceeded the 20 µg/m³ obligation only in Częstochowa
In the Official Journal Monitor Polski of 9 July 2026 (item 671) Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment published a list of 26 cities of over 100,000 inhabitants and agglomerations with their 2025 values of the average exposure indicator for PM2.5. Only Częstochowa, at 22 µg/m³, exceeded the exposure concentration obligation; the others range from 11 to 19 µg/m³.
- The indicator is calculated by the Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection (GIOŚ) by 30 June each year, and the minister publishes the list by 30 September (Articles 86a and 86b of the Environmental Protection Law); by 31 October GIOŚ publishes the indicator values and the national average exposure indicator on its website. The exposure concentration obligation is 20 µg/m³ for a three-calendar-year average, and the regulation on substance levels in air provides for measuring PM2.5 by the gravimetric method with fraction separation or by methods recognised as equivalent.
- After Częstochowa the highest values were in the Rybnik-Jastrzębie (19 µg/m³) and Upper Silesian (18 µg/m³) agglomerations and in Radom and Bielsko-Biała (17 µg/m³ each); the lowest, 11 µg/m³, in the Białystok, Tricity and Szczecin agglomerations and in Koszalin. The Warsaw agglomeration had 13 µg/m³, Kraków 16 µg/m³ and Wrocław 15 µg/m³.
- In the previous list (notice of 1 August 2025, values for 2024) Częstochowa had 21 µg/m³, the Rybnik-Jastrzębie agglomeration 20 µg/m³, the Upper Silesian 19 µg/m³ and Kraków 17 µg/m³; that list had 28 entries, including Wałbrzych and Włocławek, which do not appear in the list for 2025.
- Where the exposure concentration obligation is exceeded in consecutive years in a zone with an adopted air protection programme, the regional board must draft an update of the programme with protective measures for sensitive groups, in particular older people and children (Article 91(9c) of the Environmental Protection Law).