Cyprus official says risk of chemical pollution from regional hostilities is minimal

Nicosia, Cyprus. The likelihood of Cyprus’s air quality being affected by chemicals from regional hostilities is minimal, air quality control officer Chrysanthos Savvides said on Wednesday.

Assessment of chemical risk in airborne dust

Savvides said dust reaching Cyprus from the Middle East as a result of bombing is highly unlikely to contain chemical emissions. Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, he said scientific data and analyses from past conflicts in Syria and Israel had not detected concentrations of substances associated with chemical weapons.

Monitoring and laboratory analysis

The labour inspection department, responsible for air quality monitoring, collects atmospheric dust samples and sends them to the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for analysis. The samples are tested for around 40 substances typically linked to the use of chemical weapons.

Detectability and atmospheric behavior

Savvides said that even if such substances were present, they would likely fall below detectable limits, meaning concentrations would be negligible and would not affect air quality. He said the chemical substances are short-lived pollutants in the atmosphere and could not travel in the form they were released over such large distances. He added that this is even more relevant in the case of Iran, which is located further from Cyprus than Syria and Israel.

Conditions needed for impact on Cyprus

Savvides said two conditions would need to occur simultaneously for Cyprus to be affected: hostilities near desert areas and a dust storm carrying particles towards the island.

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