Brussels, 20/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Despite progress made by the EU in the fight against air pollution, almost all European citizens are still exposed to pollutants deemed unsafe by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Wednesday 19 November. The report states that over 95% of the urban population is exposed to dangerous levels of some pollutants - fine particulate matter, ground level ozone, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and nitrogen oxides.
This annual EEA report on air quality collates the data gathered by monitoring stations on the concentration levels of pollutants in the air throughout Europe, and is accompanied by data on nearly 400 conurbations. While many large cities have relatively low levels of pollution, others - for much of the year - exceed the limits set by EU legislation.
“Air pollution in Europe is still high. It leads to high costs - for our natural systems, our economy, the productivity of Europe's workforce, and most seriously, the general health of Europeans”, says EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx.
Air pollution is the main environmental reason for death in the EU - with over 400,000 premature deaths in Europe caused by fine particulate matter in 2011. This pollutant is particularly dangerous as it is capable of penetrating deep into the lungs. However, the high levels of ground level ozone over short episodes also caused a significant number of deaths, the report states.
Most pollutants have declined slightly over the last decade, including particulate matter and ozone, but concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have not fallen as much as expected. This can partly be explained by the fact that vehicles are an important source of this pollutant and vehicle emission standards have not always led to the reductions anticipated, the EEA points out.
The pollutant which has increased most over the last decade is BaP, with an increase in airborne concentrations of more than a fifth between 2003 and 2012 - to the extent that in 2012 over 90% of citizens were exposed to it at levels higher than those recommended by the WHO. The reason for this is an increased use of woodstoves and biomass heating.
The effect of air pollution on respiratory and heart diseases is well known, but new studies have shown that air pollution can also affect foetal development and provoke illnesses later in life through long-term exposure. The report shows that short episodes of pollution, as in Paris recently (particulate matter pollution at the start of the year), can also be very dangerous.
When it comes to air pollution's harmful effects on the environment, the EEA notes that the phenomena of eutrophication (excess of nutrient nitrogen that damages ecosystems and threatens biodiversity), acidification and plant damage are still widespread, despite improvement over recent years. In 2012, the EU's long-term objective for limiting concentrations of ozone was exceeded in 87% of Europe's agricultural areas. (AN)