The air quality in the EU is improving. Yet, despite the gradual reduction of emissions, the EEA report highlights that in 2022, 96% of the urban population in EU countries was exposed to levels of air pollutants harmful to health that exceeded the limits set by the WHO.
The air quality varies among EU countries
The air quality in the European Union countries is improving overall, and this is good news.
However, there is also the other side: 96% of Europeans living in cities are exposed to concentrations of delicate particulate matter (PM 2.5, a particularly harmful air pollutant found in urban areas) and ozone above the World Health Organization’s reference level.
Analysis of Air Pollution
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has presented a brief report – Europe’s air quality status 2024 – that provides an overview of air pollution in the European Union.
The overall situation is not very reassuring. Air pollution poses the most significant 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 likely causes fatal conditions that, if you think about it, could be avoided if air quality were better.
Although the current air quality standards set by the EU are still not being met in all member countries, they will eventually have to comply with them. In fact, the new standards, which will come into effect in 2030, will be more ambitious than the current ones.
Air quality and premature deaths
By this date, the European Commission has set an intermediate goal of reducing premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter by at least 55% compared to 2005 levels. The guidelines on reducing air pollutants developed at the EU level are nonetheless less stringent than the limits set by the WHO.
Fine particulate matter mainly forms in the atmosphere from the combustion of solid fuels for home heating, industrial activities, and road transport. Ammonia emissions from agriculture also significantly contribute to the formation of fine particulate matter.
Despite the gradual reduction in emissions, the EEA report highlights that in 2022, nearly the entire urban population of EU countries was exposed to levels of air pollutants harmful to health that exceeded the limits set by the WHO.
