Half a million premature deaths each year. This is what still causes air pollution in the countries of the European Union, announces the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Monday, October 29. In his Annual Report, however, she noted a slow improvement in air quality. The concentrations of fine particles, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3) would have fallen in 2015, the year under consideration. In France, air pollution is the third cause of death behind tobacco and alcohol, being responsible for nearly 50,000 deaths each year.
While the rates have fallen slightly, they remain well above the standards set by the European Union and even stricter ones by the World Health Organization (WHO), the report said. These conclusions come only a few weeks after the European Union’s monitoring body denounced the non-compliance with the bloc’s air quality objectives by most of the member states. He then warned that the health record in Eastern European countries is worse than in China or India. Last May, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary and Romania were sent to the European Court of Justice for failing to meet these obligations.
An invisible killer
The EEA estimates that in 2015, exposure to fine particles (called PM2.5) would be responsible for around 391,000 premature deaths in the 28 European countries. This figure rises to 422,000 when the 41 countries studied in the report are included. Nitrogen dioxide is believed to be responsible for 76,000 early deaths (79,000 in 41 countries), while 16,400 are due to tropospheric ozone (17,700 in 41 countries). In total, 500,000 annual deaths are thought to be due to atmospheric pollution.
“Air pollution is an invisible killer and we must redouble our efforts to address its causes”, explains in the press release of the study Hans Bruyninckx, executive director of the EEA. The fine particles enter the lungs causing respiratory disease and heart problems. According to the report, 6% of the urban population of the European Union is even exposed to PM2.5, very fine particles made up of dust, smoke, soot and pollen. A figure that would rise to 74% if the study was based on WHO recommendations. Involved in this air pollution? Mainly road transport, but also agriculture, energy production and industry.
However, the picture is not all black. Since 1990, premature deaths from PM2.5 have reportedly been reduced by around half a million, thanks to European policies and local measures. In Paris, for example, the introduction of a car-free day or alternating traffic in the event of a pollution peak is showing encouraging results. From October 30 to November 1, WHO is also organizing the first international conference on this subject of air pollution. a “Call for urgent action” versus “The greatest environmental risk to health”.
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