Air pollution threatens the entire planet. And Italy is bringing up the rear in Europe
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No place on the planet is immune to air pollution and the impact of fine particles. Daily global levels of 'unhealthy air' are revealed by research published in The Lancet Planetary Health. (1)
Global air pollution, the study
About 99,82% of the earth's surface globally is exposed to levels of particulate matter 2,5 (PM 2,5) – tiny particles in the air that scientists have linked to lung cancer and heart disease – above the safe limit set in 2021 by the World Organization of Healthcare in 5 µg/m3.
In 2019, only 0,18% of the global land area and 0,001% of the world's population had annual exposure to PM 2,5 at concentrations below µg/m3, with over 70% of days at levels above 15 µg/m3 m XNUMX.
during the two decades monitored, population exposure decreased in Europe and North America, while it increased in South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The World Health Organization a year ago he denounced that the entire world population (99%) breathes air that does not respect the quality limits. In Europe, it happens to 96% of the urban population.
Air quality in Europe, health risk and premature deaths
'Air pollution it is the largest environmental risk to health and has a significant impact on the health of the European population, particularly in urban areas', warns the European Environment Agency (EEA) in taking stock of air quality in Europe. (2)
In 2020 the emissions of air pollutants have been affected by the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown, which associated with the reduction of road transport have led to a temporary decline in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations.
Nevertheless, air pollution remains a major concern for the health of Europeans. Central-Eastern Europe and Italy report the highest concentrations of particulate matter and benzo[a]pyrene (carcinogen).
In Europe, the safety levels indicated by the WHO (more stringent than the EU ones) are largely exceeded:
- 96% of the urban population has been exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) higher than 5 µg/m3,
- 71% of the European population is exposed to PM 10 above safe levels, 96% to ozone, 89% to nitrogen dioxide. (3)
Zero Pollution
These numbers they therefore indicate a long way to go in order to reach the objectives of Zero Pollution of the EU.
In the action plan zero pollution for 2050, launched by the European Commission, there is the 2030 goal of improving air quality to reduce by 55% the number of premature deaths caused by air pollution and exposure to fine particulate matter (compared to 2005) and to reduce by 25% the EU ecosystems where air pollution threatens biodiversity.
In 2020, emissions of all major air pollutants in the EU-27 continued to decline, and premature deaths attributed to exposure to particulate matter decreased by 25% in the EU-27, but more efforts are needed to hit the target and above all to reduce air pollution a harmless levels for health.
The latest figures of the EEA say that in 2020 air pollution caused a significant number of premature deaths in the 27 EU Member States.
The exposure at concentrations of fine particulate matter above WHO reference levels it caused 238.000 premature deaths; exposure to nitrogen dioxide above safe levels led to 49.000 premature deaths. Acute exposure to ozone has caused 24.000 premature deaths.
Not to mention the damage, for health and for the accounts of the health system, due to the morbidity linked to poor air quality.
Italy, malaria on the cities
In Italy the smog emergency is an endless alarm. According to the Legambiente report 'Bad air in the city. Change of pace wanted', released in January 2023 and referred to 2022,
- 29 out of 95 cities exceeded daily PM10 limits,
- compared to target Europeans by 2030 76% of cities are outlawed for PM 10, 84% for PM 2.5 and 61% for NO2,
- more than 52 premature deaths per year - equal to 1/5 of those recorded throughout the continent - are attributed to fine particles. (4)
The trend pollution decline is too slow, exposing cities to new health risks and penalties. The average annual rate of reduction of concentrations at national level is, in fact, only 2% for PM10 and 3% for NO2.
The cities far from the PM10 target, for example, should reduce their concentrations in cities by between 30% and 43% within the next seven years, but according to current trends of reduction recorded in the last 10 years (period 2011 – 2021, Urban Ecosystem data), it could take on average another 17 years to reach the goal, i.e. 2040 instead of 2030', underlines Legambiente.
Some cities it could take more than thirty years.
Sabrina Bergamini
Note
(1) Wenhua Yu, Tingting Ye, Yiwen Zhang, Rongbin Xu, Yadong Lei, Zhuying Chen et al. Global estimates of daily ambient fine particulate matter concentrations and unequal spatiotemporal distribution of population exposure: a machine learning modeling study. The Lancet Planetary Health. March, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00008-6
(2) Air quality in Europe 2022. European Environment Agency https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-quality-in-europe-2022
(3) WHO Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air. WHO. https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data
(4) Bad city air. change of pace wanted. Legambiente. https://www.legambiente.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Rapporto_Malaria_2023.pdf
