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Pollution: deaths linked to fine particles in the EU fall by more than 10% in one year

2021-11-14T23:20:39.244Z


Between 2018 and 2019, their number increased from 346,000 to 307,000. This decrease can be explained by favorable weather conditions but above all by the gradual improvement in air quality.


Fine particle pollution caused 307,000 premature deaths in the European Union in 2019, a figure which remains alarming but has fallen by more than 10% in one year, according to a report by the European Environment Agency published on Monday 15 November.

According to the study, more than half of those lives could be saved if the 27 member countries met the new air quality targets recently set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Read also Do pollens and fine particles increase the risk of Covid-19 infection?

In 2018, the number of deaths linked to fine particles PM 2.5 (particles suspended in the air 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, according to these data.

A figure that had 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 dead, Poland is the most affected country in relation to its population.

Read also Does air pollution really worsen susceptibility to coronavirus?

The Copenhagen-based agency also measures deaths linked to the other two main air pollutants dangerous to health, but does not add up the reports because it would lead 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 biggest environmental threat to the health of Europeans, according to the European agency based in Copenhagen.

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

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

Source: lefigaro

All tech articles on 2021-11-14

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