The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Air pollution still kills more than 300,000 a year in the European Union, a figure on the decline

2021-11-15T08:09:18.282Z


If the quality objectives set by the World Health Organization (WHO) were met, half of these deaths would be avoided.


Fine particle pollution caused 307,000 premature deaths in the European Union (EU) in 2019. This figure remains alarming but has fallen by more than 10% in one year, according to a report from the European Environment Agency published this Monday.

In 2018, the number of deaths linked to fine particles PM 2.5 (suspended particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) was estimated at 346,000.

The sharp drop in 2019 is partly explained by favorable weather conditions, but above all by the continued gradual improvement in air quality in Europe, according to the EEA. In the early 1990s, fine particles, which penetrate deep into the lungs, caused nearly a million premature deaths in the 27 EU countries. This figure has already fallen to around 450,000 in 2005.

Among the main EU countries, fine particle pollution was responsible in 2019 for 53,800 premature deaths in Germany, 49,900 in Italy, 29,800 in France and 23,300 in Spain, according to the EAA.

With 39,300 deaths, Poland is the most affected country in relation to its population.

More than half of those lives could be saved if the 27 EU countries met the new air quality targets recently set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Heart and lung disease, stroke, lung cancer

The EEA also measures deaths linked to the two other main air pollutants dangerous to health. But she does not add up the balance sheets because this would lead, according to her, to double counting. For ozone particles (O3), the trend in 2019 was also downward with 16,800 premature deaths, a decline of 13% over one year. For nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a gas produced mainly by vehicles and thermal power plants, premature deaths fell by a quarter between 2018 and 2019, to 40,400.

Air pollution remains the most important environmental threat to the health of Europeans.

Heart disease and stroke are the most common causes of premature death from air pollution, followed by lung disease and lung cancer, recalls the EEA.

In children, air pollution could hinder lung development, cause respiratory infections and worsen asthma.

Read also100% of Ile-de-France residents breathe too polluted air

Even as the situation is gradually improving, the EEA warned in September that most European countries are still beyond the limits, whether it is European recommendations or the more ambitious ones from the WHO.

According to the latter, air pollution kills seven million premature deaths per year, a toll that places it at levels close to smoking or unhealthy diet.

This heavy toll pushed it at the end of September to establish more restrictive limits for the main air pollutants, for the first time since 2005.

Aging population and urbanization may increase the number of deaths

"Investing in cleaner heating, mobility, agriculture and industry improves the health, productivity and quality of life of all Europeans, especially the most vulnerable", pleaded the Director of the EEA , Hans Bruyninck.

The European Union has set itself the goal of reducing the number of premature deaths caused by fine particles by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. current, the agency estimates that this target would be reached by 2032.

However, aging and urbanization trends could affect some of the health gains associated with reducing air pollution concentrations.

"An older population is more sensitive to air pollution and a higher rate of urbanization generally means that more people are exposed to the concentrations of fine particles, which tend to be higher in cities", underlines the EEA , which calls for redoubled efforts.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2021-11-15

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-21T13:52:55.376Z
Tech/Game 2024-02-23T12:03:00.158Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-06T20:02:16.378Z

Trends 24h

Life/Entertain 2024-03-28T17:17:20.523Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.