Air quality in the EU is improving. Yet, despite the progressive reduction of emissions, the EEA report highlights that in 2022, 96% of the urban population of EU countries was exposed to levels of air pollutants harmful to health above the limits indicated by the WHO.
Air quality varies across EU countries
Air quality in European Union countries is improving overall, and that’s good news.
However, there’s also a downside: 96% of Europeans living in cities are exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5, a particularly harmful air pollutant found in urban areas) and ozone that are above the WHO reference level.
Air pollution analysis
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has presented a short report – Europe’s air quality status 2024 – in which it takes stock of air pollution in the European Union.
The overall situation is not very reassuring: air pollution represents the greatest risk to people’s health in the EU.
The risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases is such that it compromises the quality of life and is very likely to cause fatal diseases that, if you think about it, would be avoidable if air quality were better.
The current air quality standards set by the EU are not yet met in all member states, but sooner or later they will have to implement them. In fact, the new standards, which should come into force in 2030, will be more ambitious than the current ones.
Air quality and premature deaths
By this date, the European Commission has set the intermediate target of reducing (by at least 55% compared to 2005 levels) premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter. The guidelines on the reduction of air pollutants developed at EU level are however less stringent than the limits set by the WHO.
Fine particulate matter mainly comes from the combustion of solid fuels for domestic heating, from industrial activities and from road transport. Ammonia emissions from agriculture also contribute significantly to the formation of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere.
Despite the progressive reduction of emissions, the EEA report highlights that in 2022, almost all of the urban population of EU countries was exposed to levels of air pollutants harmful to health above the limits indicated by the WHO.
The situation in Italy
Concentrations of fine particulate matter exceeding the annual EU limit value have been detected in Italy.
In particular, in northern Italy, high concentrations of PM 2.5 are due to the combination of a high density of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological and geographical conditions that favor the accumulation of air pollutants in the atmosphere and the formation of secondary particles.
This article is originally published on rinnovabili.it
