In a study, the EU Environment Agency paints a clear and sobering picture: Most of the people who live in Europe’s cities are unhealthy.
“The vast majority of the population in cities is exposed to pollution that endangers health”: That is the core sentence of an assessment published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Tuesday. The concentrations of fine dust, nitrogen compounds and ground-level ozone were used for the assessment; the latter is an irritant gas that causes problems for the eyes and lungs.
In detail it is stated that the pollution with pollutants has decreased since 2005. But nonetheless, values are measured that are cause for concern. 97 percent of the urban population in the 27 EU member states are exposed to fine dust (both 2.5 micrograms and 10 micrograms in size). This fine dust is all the more dangerous, the smaller the particles are. They then advance further into the lungs.
When it comes to nitrogen compounds, there are hardly fewer people who are exposed to these substances – the EEA has calculated that 94 percent of city dwellers are exposed to values that are hazardous to health. In the case of ground-level ozone, which is created through chemical reactions with nitrogen compounds and especially when it is hot, 99 percent of people experience increased concentrations. Ozone values are often higher due to the nature of the chemical reactions in the surrounding area of urban centers – the vegetation in particular suffers from this. This can go so far that harvest yields are also lower or the resilience of the trees is weakened.
The EEA identifies “human activities” as the cause. It is primarily about the transport sector and industrial plants. Heating also plays a major role in the colder months. The present evaluation of the EEA is the first Europe-wide air quality assessment in cities, which was carried out according to the latest findings of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has significantly reduced the values that are considered harmless.
>> Air quality in detail (interactive map)