Air Quality Getting Worse in Europe; Fossil Fuels to Blame

The European Environment Agency (EEA) released its annual report on air quality in Europe today blaming coal and biomass burning industries, power plants and households for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths across Europe, despite improvements to air quality in recent decades. EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx said:

“Emission reductions have led to improvements in air quality in Europe, but not enough to avoid unacceptable damage to human health and the environment. We need to tackle the root causes of air pollution, which calls for a fundamental and innovative transformation of our mobility, energy and food systems. This process of change requires action from us all, including public authorities, businesses, citizens and research community.”

The report also provides new estimates of the health impacts of the most harmful air pollutants based on 2013 data. Exposure to PM2.5 was responsible for about 467, 000 premature deaths in 41 European countries in 2013. Within the EU, premature deaths exceeded 430,000. The estimated impacts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3) exposure were around 71, 000 and 17,000 premature deaths, respectively, in Europe. The following graphic shows EU urban population exposure to harmful levels of air pollutant concentrations between 2012-2014 under both EU targets and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Source: EEA, November 2016

Despite the issues highlighted above, the report notes that air quality has actually improved over the years. The annual average PM10 has fallen in 75% of monitored locations during the period 2000–2014. Similarly, PM2.5 concentrations, on average, have decreased between 2006 and 2014 for all station types (urban, traffic, background sites, etc.). Exposure to PM levels above WHO recommendations have also decreased over the years.  Other findings in the report include the following:

• In 2014, 16% of the EU-28 urban population was exposed to PM10 levels above the EU daily limit value whereas 8 % was exposed to PM2.5 levels above the EU target value. However, when compared to the stricter WHO Air Quality Guideline values set to protect human health, approximately 50% and 85% of city dwellers were exposed to PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the WHO’s recommendations. (See above figure.)
• NO2 affects the respiratory system directly, but also contributes to the formation of PM and O3. In 2014, 7% of the urban population in the EU-28 were exposed to NO2 concentrations above the identical WHO and EU standards, with 94% of all exceedances occurring due to traffic.
• PM2.5 emissions from coal and biomass combustion in households and from commercial and institutional buildings have not decreased to any significant degree.
• Emissions of ammonia (NH3) from agriculture remain high and contribute especially to sustained PM levels and a number of high-PM episodes in Europe.