DEADLY AIR

Almost all EU countries have levels of air pollution above the recommended limits, causing thousands of deaths

THE UK is among 24 European countries with levels of air pollution above the recommended threshold, with thousands of people dying prematurely from poor air quality every year. Despite EU legislation, government pledges and years of campaigning, figures from the European Environment Agency show that most countries still exceed safe air pollution limits set by the World Health Organisation.

These state that an average of more than 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) per cubic meter over the course of a year is unsafe.

However, only Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Ireland had concentrations below this in 2018 - the latest figures available.

In the UK, the concentration in urban areas stood at 10.6 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre in 2018.

However, separate, more recent figures for the country show that this has since fallen to 10.1 in 2019 - an improvement, but still over the safe limit.

PM2.5 are tiny particles more than 100 times thinner than a human hair. They are particularly harmful to our health, as they are small enough to pass through the lungs and into the bloodstream.

There is strong evidence that exposure to PM2.5 may lead to premature death and ill health, mainly related to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

In 2018 alone, 32,900 people in the UK were thought to have died prematurely due to this type of air pollution.

They were among 379,000 people estimated to have died prematurely across the 28 countries in Europe that year - rising to 417,000 people when all 41 countries in the Eurozone are taken into account.

Across the EU, the number of premature deaths worked out at a rate of 75 for every 100,000 people.

Kosovo had the highest rate, at 222 deaths for every 100,000 people.

On the other hand, Ireland, Norway and Iceland had the lowest rates (17, 26 and 27 deaths per 100,000 residents respectively).

It is notable that both Ireland and Iceland are among the small handful of countries to meet WHO limits on safe levels of air pollution.

The good news is that emission cuts in key sectors have improved air quality across Europe.

Since 2000, emissions of key air pollutants have declined significantly.

Thanks to better air quality, around 60,000 fewer people died prematurely due to PM2.5 pollution in 2018 compared to 2009.

Virginijus Sinkevi ius, European commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries said: “It is good news that air quality is improving thanks to the environmental and climate policies that we have been implementing. But we can't ignore the downside – the number of premature deaths in Europe due to air pollution is still far too high.

“With the European Green Deal we have set ourselves an ambition of reducing all kinds of pollution to zero.

“If we are to succeed and fully protect people's health and the environment, we need to cut air pollution further and align our air quality standards more closely with the recommendations of the World Health Organization.”