The concentration of pollution is greater than in the past in the suburbs compared to the center and this is also leading to a considerable increase in deaths among residents, given that the neighborhoods adjacent to the central ones are on average also the most populated, especially among the over 65s. Death rates in peripheral areas in particular they have doubled, with Milan being an exemplary case of the large Italian urban centers where on average they are up to 60% higher in the neighborhoods far from the center with less greenery, with a high density of traffic and inhabitants over 65. This new trend is determined by the mixsmog - more unfavorable socio-economic conditions, which induce worse lifestyles such as smoking, obesity and less physical activity with a multiplication effect on mortality, compared to more central areas of cities.
This is the warning launched by around 200 scientists from all over the world, gathered in Milan for the 'RespiraMi: Recent Advances on Air Pollution and Health 2024' conference, co-organised by the Menarini Foundation in collaboration with the Irccs Ca' Granda Ospedale MaggiorePoliclinico Foundation, and by the Imperial College from London.
And experts study the London model.
The British capital has decided to extend the ban on the circulation of the most polluting vehicles to the entire metropolitan area (stirring quite a bit of controversy).
The alert comes a few days after the launch of the new European directive on air quality and in light of the data from a survey conducted by the Milan Health Protection Agency (Ats-Mi) recently published in the journal Epidemiologia&Prevenzione, the magazine of the Italian Association of epidemiology.
Research shows that in the peripheral neighborhoods where the ring roads pass, with less greenery and more densely inhabited, with many citizens over 65, the rate of deaths attributable to nitrogen dioxide and fine particles can increase significantly compared to that recorded in the areas adjacent to the centre, less urbanized or richer in greenery and in the central districts where traffic is usually subject to restrictions.
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