More than half of the premature deaths caused by air pollution in the EU could have been avoided if the WHO’s air quality guidelines had been followed, says a briefing paper published by the European Environment Agency on Monday 15 November.
This document presents updated estimates on how three key pollutants (fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone) affected the health of Europeans in 2019.
It shows that air quality improved in 2019 compared to the previous year, but that of the 307 000 premature deaths due to fine particle exposure, at least 178 000 (58%) could have been avoided if all EU Member States had met the new WHO air quality reference level of 5 µg/m3.
The EEA analysis has been published ahead of the European Forum on 18-19 November on the ongoing revision of EU legislation to bring EU air quality rules more in line with the stricter WHO guidelines, as part of the European Green Deal (see EUROPE 12797/9).
The EU’s Zero Pollution Action Plan aims to reduce the number of premature deaths due to fine particle exposure by more than 55% by 2030 compared to 2005. The EEA considers that the EU is on the right track, with the number of such deaths falling by about a third between 2005 and 2019. However, it is calling for further progress.
“The world’s leading experts have made it clear that there is no level of air pollution that is safe to breathe – and this is why the EU must be doing all it can to keep our exposure as low as possible”, commented the NGO ClientEarth, which is campaigning for the full alignment of EU rules with the new WHO standards. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)