Milan, 27 March 2013 - No significant impact on the concentrations of micropollutants directly or indirectly related to emissions associated with airport activities has been identified. This is what emerges from a survey by ARPA, the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection, carried out on behalf of the Municipalities in which the airport is situated.

Road traffic and wood combustion are the main causes of pollution of the area surrounding Malpensa, as is the case in other parts of the Lombardy Region.

ARPA has carried out intensive monitoring of air quality with the aim of evaluating the possible presence of substances potentially hazardous to health in the atmosphere. Data on emissions of the province of Varese, of Malpensa airport and of the motorway network in the province of Varese were collected.

No evidence attributable to airport activities and to emissions that are mixed with those typical of the area emerged and, therefore, there is no correlation between pollution and air traffic.

In the survey period, October 2011 - August 2012, 4 intensive campaigns, one per season, were also carried out, alongside normal institutional monitoring. In addition to this intensive monitoring, a further 4 campaigns were carried out with a mobile laboratory during the winter and summer periods in the municipalities of Arsago Seprio, Samarate, Golasecca and Vizzola Ticino.

The levels of potentially Hazardous Air Pollutants, HAPs, i.e. substances emitted by aircraft according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as well as the levels of conventional pollutants, including PM10, are not higher than those of urban environments.