Binningen September 2026 records highest mean ozone and peak PM10.

October 1, 2026

In September 2026, the NBCN monitoring station in Binningen recorded no low-pollution days and 7 days with marked or significant pollution, driven mainly by elevated ozone and an extreme PM10 event. Compared to previous Septembers, mean ozone and maximum PM10 were the highest on record, while nitrogen dioxide levels remained about average.

Photo: Kanton Basel-Stadt, LHA Luftmessung A2 Hardwald Muttenz, on Multimedia-Datenbank BS, licensed under Unsplash License.

In September 2026, the air quality at the NBCN monitoring station in Binningen showed no days with a KBI of 1, meaning there were no days with low pollution. There were 23 days with a KBI of 2, indicating moderate pollution, and 7 days with a KBI of 3 or higher, which reflects marked or significant pollution. Specifically, 5 days reached KBI 3 and 2 days reached KBI 4. The KBI, or Kurzzeit-Belastungs-Index, combines the short-term exposure to ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter into a single index that ranges from 1 (low) to 6 (very high). The mean concentrations for September 2026 were 68.1 µg/m³ for ozone, 9.7 µg/m³ for nitrogen dioxide, and 11.1 µg/m³ for PM10. The maximum concentrations were 137.0 µg/m³ for ozone, 43.3 µg/m³ for nitrogen dioxide, and 280.0 µg/m³ for PM10. All values are listed in Table 1, and regulatory thresholds are listed in Table 3.

KBI Load Level PM10 (µg/m³) Ozone O₃ (µg/m³) Nitrogen Dioxide NO₂ (µg/m³)
6 Very high > 100 > 240 > 160
5 High 76–100 181–240 121–160
4 Significant 57–75 136–180 91–120
3 Marked 51–56 121–135 81–90
2 Moderate 26–50 61–120 41–80
1 Low 0–25 0–60 0–40

Compared to previous Septembers from 2018 to 2025, September 2026 was generally more polluted in terms of ozone and PM10, but about average for nitrogen dioxide. The rank for days with KBI 1 was 8 out of 9 years, meaning only one year had fewer days with low pollution. For days with KBI 2, the rank was not directly provided, but the count of 23 days was similar to several previous years. The maximum ozone concentration ranked 5th highest out of 9 years, while the mean ozone concentration ranked 1st, making it the highest mean ozone for September in the dataset. The maximum nitrogen dioxide concentration ranked 4th, and the mean nitrogen dioxide ranked 6th. The maximum PM10 concentration ranked 1st, the highest recorded for September, driven by an extreme value of 280.0 µg/m³, while the mean PM10 ranked 5th. The monthly average and maximum values for September are reported in Table 2 and displayed in Figures 1 to 3.


Table 1: Monthly Summary for September 2026
metric September 2026 Avg since 2019
Days with KBI = 1 0 3
Days with KBI = 2 23 23
Days with KBI = 3 5 3
Days with KBI ≥ 4 2 1
Max NO₂ [µg/m³] 43 42
Max O₃ [µg/m³] 137 134
Max PM₁₀ [µg/m³] 280 35
Mean NO₂ [µg/m³] 10 11
Mean O₃ [µg/m³] 68 56
Mean PM₁₀ [µg/m³] 11 11
NO₂ exceedances 0 0
O₃ exceedances 7 5
PM₁₀ exceedances 0 0


Table 2: Air Pollutant Statistics since 2019 (September)
Year KBI=1 days Mean O3 Max O3 Mean NO2 Max NO2 Mean PM10 Max PM10
2018 2 62 156 15 56 12 40
2019 4 56 121 11 45 9 36
2020 5 62 148 12 50 12 35
2021 1 54 131 13 41 12 33
2022 1 52 106 9 42 9 26
2023 0 64 154 10 41 12 42
2024 1 57 140 8 35 10 35
2025 7 42 116 9 29 8 34
2026 0 68 137 10 43 11 280


Table 3: Regulatory Thresholds for Air Pollutants
Pollutant interval Threshold Unit Comments Reference
Ozone day 120 µg/m³ maximum hourly average may exceed standard only one time per year Luftreinhalte-Verordnung
Nitrogen dioxide day 80 µg/m³ daily average may not exceed standard Luftreinhalte-Verordnung
Nitrogen dioxide year 30 µg/m³ daily average may not exceed standard Luftreinhalte-Verordnung
Particulate Matter (PM₁₀) year 20 µg/m³ daily average may not exceed standard Luftreinhalte-Verordnung
Particulate Matter (PM₁₀) day 50 µg/m³ daily average may not exceed standard Luftreinhalte-Verordnung

Figure 1: Maximum and Average Ozone (O₃, µg/m³) Concentrations in September

Figure 2: Maximum and Average NO₂ Concentrations (µg/m³) in September

Figure 3: Maximum and Average Fine Particles (PM₁₀, µg/m³) in September

Data source: Luftqualität Station Basel-Binningen
Additional resources: Luftqualität in den Kantonen AG. BE, BL, BS, JU, SO, Topic Air, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland, World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index

🤖 This text was generated with the assistance of AI. All quantitative statements are derived directly from the dataset listed under Data Source.