The measures that European countries have implemented in recent decades to combat pollution have been effective in improving air quality and reducing citizens' exposure to the main pollutants.
However, they are still not enough for the majority of the population to breathe air that is within the new safety levels established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is clear from a study published this Wednesday in the journal
Nature Communications
and which has been led by experts from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS).
Researchers have focused on the four main air pollutants: suspended particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM₂,₅), particles less than 10 microns (PM₁₀), ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).
They have analyzed data from 1,426 regions in 35 European countries (where 543 million people live) between 2003 and 2019. In addition to the 27 members of the EU, they have included the United Kingdom, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Switzerland, Albania and Liechtenstein.
One of the main conclusions of the study is that the levels of PM₁₀, NO₂ and PM₂,₅ have fallen annually in the period of time studied by 2.72%, 2.45% and 1.72%, respectively.
In the case of ozone, a compound more related to meteorological conditions, a decrease is not seen in the set of regions analyzed;
In southern Europe, there has even been an average annual increase in the concentrations of this substance of 0.58%.
Although there is a clear improvement, these advances fall very short after the last update carried out in 2021 by the WHO of the safety thresholds against exposure to these contaminants.
After analyzing the scientific literature published on the health effects of these substances, the WHO lowered the exposure limits that are considered safe.
The study published this Wednesday warns: “Around 98.1%, 80.15% and 86.34% of the population of the 35 European countries lived in 2019 in areas of unsafe air for PM₂,₅, PM₁₀ and NO₂ , respectively” taking into account these new security levels.
“EU regulations and policies have played a key role in driving progress,” says Zhao-Yue Chen, researcher at ISGlobal and lead author of this study, about the improvement in air quality in the European countries studied. study.
Chen explains to EL PAÍS that the regulations implemented mainly by community institutions “have promoted cleaner practices in various sectors”, such as residential, commercial and industrial energy consumption, which have improved particle levels.
“Improvements in these sectors, likely due to a combination of stricter regulations and the adoption of cleaner technologies, have contributed to reductions in particulate matter levels.
“Similarly, road transport, the main source of nitrogen oxides, has seen reductions in NO₂ likely due to factors such as stricter vehicle emissions standards and a possible increase in the use of cleaner energy,” adds this researcher. .
But Chen also warns that Europe is still “far from enjoying clean air,” as “the majority of Europeans continue to breathe unhealthy air.”
This expert advocates an update of air standards so that they align more “with the new WHO guidelines.”
At the moment, community institutions are precisely in that updating process, which is expected to be completed in April.
“If it becomes a reality, I think it would be good news for public health because it means people will be exposed to less harmful air,” Chen says.
The complex case of ozone
If measures focusing on energy, industry and transport are related to reductions in harmful nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, the case for ozone is more complicated.
“It is a complex challenge due to its secondary formation route from precursor gases,” explains the ISGlobal researcher.
That is, it is not expelled directly from exhaust pipes or chimneys, although the primary pollutants that come out of there are also decisive for its formation.
In addition, the generation of ozone is also influenced by the increase in sunlight and temperatures.
That is why Chen proposes two fronts of action in this case.
“Given that vehicles are a major source of pollutants that contribute to the formation of ozone, we need stricter emissions regulations in the transportation sectors and a continued push toward cleaner energy.”
On the other hand, this researcher maintains that we must also continue to focus on “climate change mitigation,” which influences the increase in solar radiation and temperatures, which in turn ends up generating more ozone, which in the lower layers also acts as precursor to warming.
In the article published in
Nature Communications,
the authors recall that the European Environment Agency estimated that in 2021 there were more than 253,000 premature deaths attributable to fine particle pollution, 52,000 deaths would be related to nitrogen dioxide and 22,000 to ozone. .
Furthermore, “exposures, both chronic and acute, also increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, allergic reactions, diabetes, cognitive health and child development, among many.”
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