Air Pollution in Poland

For many years Poland belonged to the most polluted countries in Europe. The heavy industry with too much water and energy consuming old technology, caused the contamination of natural environment. Atmospheric pollution in Poland in the eighties was among the heaviest in Europe making this country the third largest polluter after the former Soviet Union and Germany [1,2]. In 1987–1989 Poland produced each year 12.5% of European dust, 10% of sulfur dioxide and 7% of nitrogen oxides. The annual emissions of major air pollutants in 1989 has been estimated to be 3 0 million tons of dust, 4 0 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 1.5 million tons of nitrogen oxide (Tab. 1)