We burn rubbish and wet wood, which is a much bigger problem than we realise

Airborne dust is one of the country's most serious yet underestimated health problems

When people think of air pollution, they often picture smog in big cities and vehicles belching smoke, but Hungarian data shows that

air quality is actually worse in rural areas.

This is primarily due to residential heating, which accounts for the vast majority of particulate matter emissions. PM10 and PM2.5 are the two main forms of particulate matter, referring to the diameter of the particles measured in micrometres. Larger particles irritate the respiratory tract, while smaller ones can enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of cardiovascular and cancerous diseases.

According to statistics, between eight and twelve thousand people die prematurely each year due to poor air quality. This makes it clear that the problem is not only environmental, but also one of the most serious public health challenges.

The root of the problem lies not in heating itself, but in how it is done. A significant proportion of the Hungarian housing stock consists of outdated, uninsulated buildings that require a lot of energy and often have old, inefficient stoves or boilers. Consequently, we burn a lot of fuel, including poor-quality and damp wood, and even household waste in many places.

The problem worsens in winter, when hundreds of chimneys in a single town release airborne dust, causing an almost immediate deterioration in air quality.

Poor air quality is caused by a combination of poverty, poor housing and unpredictable energy policies

Ádám Csuvár emphasises that air pollution cannot be attributed to "bad habits" alone. Instead, he argues that it is poverty, outdated housing conditions and a lack of knowledge that cause millions of people to still heat their homes with solid fuels. Around one-third of the population uses wood as their primary or secondary energy source, even though properly drying wood can take up to two years, a process that many families are unable to undertake. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that, in some areas,

a significant proportion of households burn waste. This releases extremely toxic substances into the environment, posing serious health risks.

Fluctuations in energy policy further exacerbate the problems. Firewood and gas are substitutes for each other, meaning that, where technically feasible, users switch between the two technologies based on energy source prices. Therefore, when gas prices rose due to changes in utility regulations, many people switched back to wood. This increased wood consumption nationwide, driving up prices and increasing air pollution.

The poorest households were thus forced to resort to the cheapest and most polluting solutions, such as burning wet wood or waste. This problem extends beyond individual settlements — no one is immune to the polluted air, and in much of the country, the concentration of particulate matter regularly exceeds the legal limit during the winter months.

Logging for heating purposes can also have an impact on other areas of the environment. Often, the origin of the firewood used is unknown, which makes it difficult to assess the sustainability of forest management. Excessive or poorly organised logging not only weakens carbon sequestration capacity, but also damages habitats, increases erosion and negatively impacts agriculture in the long term. Given all this, it is clear that reducing wood consumption is crucial for both air quality and the health of forests.

The three pillars of the solution: better housing, cleaner energy, and reliable information

According to the assistant professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), the first prerequisite for lasting improvement is to address the financial and housing issues facing rural families. Many residential buildings are in such poor condition that renovating them is not technically or economically feasible, so new housing solutions are sometimes needed. However, where renovation is possible, insulating buildings, replacing windows and doors, and modernising heating systems would reduce energy demand, pollution and household expenses simultaneously. This cannot be achieved without consistent government policies providing long-term strategic goals, adequate funding and predictable programmes.

The second pillar is switching to cleaner heating. Wealthier households could be encouraged through gradual and predictable increases in gas prices, alongside support for modern technologies such as heat pumps. Meanwhile, poorer families would require high-quality fuel, modern stoves and affordable renovation programmes. Community-level replacement of heating technologies can also be effective: Szentlőrinc, a town of 6,000 inhabitants, is a good example of this, as its district heating is entirely based on geothermal energy.

The third pillar involves expanding knowledge and providing real-time information. Many households have poor heating because they simply do not know how to do it properly. Well-designed educational programmes could quickly improve the situation. Real-time smog alerts would inform the population of dangerous pollution levels in good time, enabling them to change their daily habits accordingly — for example, when ventilating their homes or spending time outdoors.

Particulate matter pollution is therefore an environmental, social, and health issue, which, as Ádám Csuvár puts it, "requires systemic and long-term thinking in order to achieve lasting, truly sustainable results."

You can find an interactive map showing air quality in Europe here.

Cover image (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images