Translated by Alessandra Fumagalli
Air quality has generally improved in the last decade, but the percentage of air pollution is still worrying. Therefore, the informative note by the European Environment Agency (EEA), titled «Europe’s air quality status 2024», showed a worrying fact: only 4% of the European member countries manage to maintain PM2,5 below World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended levels. The remaining 96% has PM2,5 above those recommended by WHO, which worries people’s health. PM2,5, particulate matter, is indeed a mixture of microscopical particles, which are in the air, with a less than 2.5 micrometers diameter. These particles can include dust, soot, metals and other chemical substances which derive from combustion, like vehicles’ exhaust fumes, industrial emissions and home heating. Due to their tiny dimensions, PM2,5 can penetrate lungs and enter the blood circulation, causing harmful effects for the health, among which there are breath issues, cardiovascular illnesses and a rise in the risk of premature mortality.
But more specifically, how irregular is the air quality in Europe? The differences are above all in Central and Eastern Europe, where the pollution rates are higher than the rest of the continent. In 2022, Island was the only country with particulate matter below WHO’s recommended levels. On the contrary, three member countries, Croatia, Poland and Italy had particulate matter levels above the EU’s limit. More specifically, in Croatia, air pollution is higher in the urban and industrial areas, where the main sources of PM2,5 include wood and coal home heating, industrial emissions and traffic. Some cities like Zagabria e Slavonski Brod are often reported to exceed air quality’s limits. As far as Poland is concerned, it is one of the most hit countries, because it is dependent on coal for the production of energy and home heating. Polish cities, like Krakow and Warsaw, are often the most polluted in Europe, causing almost ten thousands deaths per year. As far as Italy is concerned, the most hit areas are the Po Valley (in Italian “Pianura Padana”) and some southern areas. Po Valley, in particular, is one of the most polluted areas in Europe, due to some factors: high industrial density, intense traffic, use of fossil fuels for home heating and weather conditions that foster stagnation of pollutants. Cities like Milan, Turin, and Neapolis record PM2,5 levels above EU’s limits, reaching also 40-50 µg/m³. This leads to a high rate of breath illnesses, heart attacks, and premature deaths linked with air pollution. It must be highlighted that the permissible limit is 25µg/m³, as established by the Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. In order to solve this huge issue, the European Union sets an ambitious goal for 2030: reducing by at least 55% the premature deaths caused by the exposition to particulate matter considering 2005 and current levels. This is involved in a wider strategy, which means not only reducing PM2,5 concentration, but also some other important pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone, that contribute to a high rate of illnesses linked to pollution.
At a global level, air pollution is a significant problem, not only in Europe, but also in other areas of the world. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for 7 million premature deaths worldwide per year, with an economic impact of trillions dollars. In China, for example, particulate matter’s pollution causes direct and indirect economic costs of more than 267 billion dollars per year, which is about 3,3% of the national GDP. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that costs related to public health, deriving from air pollution pass 150 billion dollars per year, with direct effects on the work productivity and absence due to illness. In India, one of the most hit countries, air pollution contributes to about 1.67 million deaths per year, with economic costs reaching 5.4% of the GDP. These data highlighted the crucial importance of efficient policies and international cooperation in order to face the air pollution global crisis.
At the beginning of this year, the EU's institutions made important steps towards these goals, reaching an agreement about a proposal to update the directives of the air environment quality. The aim of this revision is to adjust EU’s air quality standards and the WHO’s recommended levels. The new directives, if successfully implemented, would significantly contribute to the EU’s plan action “zero pollution”, which aims at reducing air, water, and soil pollution in order to reach levels, which are no more harmful for human health and natural ecosystems. In order to understand the importance of these objectives it is important to notice that in 2019 air pollution caused around 307.000 premature deaths in Europe, as shown by EEA’s research. Significantly reducing these figures by 2030 and eliminating impacts on human health by 2050 is a giant challenge, but it is necessary in order to guarantee a healthier and more sustainable future for the future generations.
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