Fewer Cars Means Drop in Air Pollution on Yom Kippur

Jerusalem, 5 October, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection reported that very good air quality was recorded on yom kippur 2015 at all monitoring stations of the national air monitoring system supervised by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Data from most monitoring stations indicate a decrease in air pollution caused by nitrogen oxides.

The slight improvement in air quality at these stations on Yom Kippur indicates that the main source of air pollution in large cities is transportation, said the Ministry However, the impact of large-scale industry in Israel on short-term concentrations of benzene is evident.

As expected, there was a decrease in nitrogen oxides and air pollutants emitted from transportation. However, in the particles that pass through the respiratory tract PM 2.5 and PM 10, some of which are of natural origin, and in secondary pollutants such as ozone, there was not necessarily a decrease on Yom Kippur.

With the arrival of the holiday (October 1, 2025), concentrations of nitrogen oxides – a marker of air pollution from vehicles – decreased at most transportation stations in Haifa, the Dan area and Jerusalem. Peak concentrations of nitrogen oxides on Yom Kippur at transportation stations in major cities were between 1.5 and 56.8 parts per billion (ppb) – values that are significantly lower than the half-hourly ambient value of 500 ppb. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) cause various symptoms of respiratory diseases and reduce the body’s resistance to bacteria and viruses.