Excessive air pollution in European cities

Europeans living in cities are exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed the limits set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), says a report by the European Environment Agency.

According to the agency, Europe's air quality is improving slightly but persistent pollution, especially in cities, causes significant damage to people's health, the economy and the environment in general.

The European Environment Agency's (EEA) new air quality analysis shows that exposure to air pollution caused about 412,000 premature deaths in 41 European countries in 2016, of which 374,000 in the European Union.

On that basis, the EEA considers that if the 28 nations of the European Union reduce air pollution and set the levels of suspended particles (PM-2.5) at the level recommended by the WHO, 102,000 premature deaths from air quality related illnesses would be avoided each year.

The report now being presented includes official air quality data from more than 4,000 monitoring stations across Europe, with special attention to the presence in urban areas of pollutants such as suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone.



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