07/07/2016
Europe has clearly improved its air quality in the last decades. This has been achieved through a combination of direct and indirect measures, including effective legislation, technology and higher public awareness. As a result, the concentrations in the air of many pollutants, including sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead and benzene, have decreased significantly. But despite these achievements, air pollution, especially of particulate matter (PM), ground-level ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), continues to impact the health of Europeans. Air pollution affects everyone, particularly people breathing higher levels of it in urban areas. Some are especially vulnerable, including those suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, people with airway allergies, the elderly and infants.
 |
|
Mr. Hans Bruyninckx Executive Director, European Environment Agency |
“Air pollution still harms Europeans’ health, and shortens their life expectancy”
The effects of air pollution on heart disease and respiratory illnesses are well known, but new studies show that it can also affect our health in other ways, from fetal development to illnesses late in life. According to recent research, co-funded by the European Union (EU), air pollution in Europe reduces life expectancy by around 8.6 months per person. To a large extent, this is caused by fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).
Particulate matter is the single pollutant causing the greatest harm to human health in Europe. Some of these particles are so small that they not only penetrate deep into lungs they also pass into bloodstream. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), fine particulate matter concentrations in 2011 were responsible for around 430,000 premature deaths in the EU.
Particulate matter is formed in different ways. Some particles are emitted directly into the atmosphere. Others come about as a result of subsequent chemical reactions of different precursor gases in the atmosphere, namely sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organic compounds. These particles can be composed of many components, with their impact on health and the environment depending on their chemical composition.
In the last decade, Europe has reduced emissions both of PM and its precursors. But these reductions have not always resulted in lower exposures. The share of the EU urban population exposed to concentration levels of PM10 above the values set by EU legislation remains high: between 21 - 30% (2010 - 2012). Under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stricter guidelines, 64 - 83% of the urban population in the EU was exposed to excessive PM10 concentrations.
Similarly, the amounts of ozone precursors emitted into the atmosphere have dropped significantly in the last decade, but the exposure of urban populations still remains high. For example, in the period 2010 - 2012, between 14 - 17% of the EU urban population was exposed to ozone levels above EU target values, mostly in southern Europe where warmer summer temperatures lead to higher rates of ozone formation. By WHO’s stricter guidelines, more than 95% of EU urban residents were exposed to excessive levels. The EEA has estimated that exposure to high-levels of ground-level O3 concentrations in 2011 caused 16,160 premature deaths in the EU.
A considerable number of EU countries fail to achieve their emission targets set by EU or international legislation for one or more air pollutants (particularly nitrogen oxides). Limiting the concentrations of air pollutants is also a challenge. Many urban areas struggle with levels of particulate matter, ground-level and nitrogen dioxide ozone higher than the thresholds set in legislation. There are different reasons why controlling air pollution remains challenging. For example, nitrogen dioxide has not fallen as fast as expected. This is partly because vehicles are an important source of NO2, and vehicle emission standards have not always led to reductions in the real world. Air pollution is also a local, pan-European and global issue. Air pollutants released in one country may be transported in the atmosphere, contributing to or resulting in poor air quality elsewhere.
The consumption patterns can also contribute to high concentrations of certain pollutants. Overall, fuel combustion is clearly a key contributor, arising from energy demand across various economic sectors, from road transport and households to energy use and production. Besides road transport sources, coal and wood burning in small stoves for home heating in some urban and rural areas constitutes a major local source of pollution. The choices made by individual households for heating can depend on several factors, including the affordability of fuel, and can have significant impacts on local air quality.
Gia Linh
(UNEP source)
