EU cities exposed to high levels of air pollution

The vast majority of European city residents are exposed to harmful levels of pollution, according to a report. The European Environment Agency has identified that around 90 per cent of people living within EU cities are exposed to potentially harmful pollutants. 

Much of the pollutant levels that are experienced by people in the EU are well above the levels set out by the World Health Organisation, according to the new report.

The annual 'Air Quality in Europe - 2103 report' published by the European Environment Agency has found that most people living within EU cities are subject to high levels of pollutants that could cause health problems. 

Some 96 per cent of city residents were regularly exposed to levels of particulate matter between 2009 and 2011 that were above WHO guidelines. Even more city dwellers (98 per cent) were subjected to levels of ozone that also exceeded WHO limits.

Fine particulate pollution and ground level ozone have been linked to a number of health problems, including lung cancer and heart disease. Long term exposure to high concentrations of these forms of air pollution is thought to be particularly damaging to human health.

However, in many cases WHO guidelines are much stricter than EU limits when it comes to air pollution. This means that much lower numbers of residents within the EU were subjected to air pollution levels that exceeded EU limits. 

It was noted in the report that there were several national differences, with some cities in Latvia, Sweden and the UK having daily levels of particulate matter than were higher than limits, even though the yearly limits were not exceeded.

Hans Bruyninckx, European Economic Area director, said: “Air pollution is causing damage to human health and ecosystems. Large parts of the population do not live in a healthy environment, according to current standards. To get on to a sustainable path, Europe will have to be ambitious and go beyond current legislation.” 

The report was produced in order to assess air quality trends and to better understand the levels of air pollution in different areas. Findings could ultimately lead to new EU legislation on pollution controls and result in new air quality limitations.