447,000 premature deaths/year in EU due to bad air quality

Photo: Joe Pomerening CC BY-NC-SA

Elevated levels of air pollutants, primarily fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone, are the top environmental cause of premature death in Europe.

In 2012, about 92 per cent of the EU urban population was exposed to levels of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) exceeding the air quality guidelines established by the World Health Organization to protect people’s health. And about 98 per cent of EU urban citizens were exposed to ozone levels exceeding the WHO’s guideline value.

In its annual air quality report, the European Environment Agency (EEA) presents new estimates of the health impacts of air pollution based on 2011 data on concentrations and exposure. Long-term exposure to PM_2.5 was responsible for about 458,000 premature deaths in 40 European countries, of which 431,000 in the EU, while short-term exposure to ground-level ozone (O₃) lead to about 17,400 premature deaths, as a total for the same 40 countries, and about 16,200 in the EU.

The table shows the best estimate figures for total mortality due to exposure to PM_2.5 and O₃ per country, for all the European countries included in the analysis.

Germany, the country with the largest population in the list, shows the highest number of premature deaths due to PM_2.5 pollution, with nearly 70,000 per year. It is followed by Italy and Poland, with almost 65,000 and 42,400 premature deaths per year, respectively.

Twelve countries with average annual PM_2.5 concentrations above 20 μg/m³, mostly in eastern Europe, account for 28 per cent of the total mortality in Europe due to PM_2.5 exposure, even though their populations make up only 20 per cent of the European population. These countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, and Slovakia.

When calculating the health impacts attributable to ozone exposure, a cut-off concentration of 35 ppb (70 μg/m³) was applied.

Italy, with the fourth-largest population of the countries studied, has the highest estimate of premature deaths due to O₃ pollution, in total almost 3400 per year. It is followed by Germany, France and Spain, with over 2300, 1800 and 1700 premature deaths per year, respectively. Poland, Greece, the United Kingdom, Romania and Hungary all have more than 500 premature deaths a year due to O₃ exposure.

In view of the uncertainty regarding the presence of a ‘no-effect threshold’ for ozone impacts on health, an alternative estimate using a cut-off concentration of 10 ppb (20 μg/m³) was also made, and according to this estimate the number of premature deaths due to O₃ pollution would amount to 73,700, i.e. more than four times higher.

The choice of cut-off concentration has the highest impacts for countries in the north-western part of Europe (Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries and United Kingdom), where the use of a lower cut-off concentration results in 5-10 times higher impacts. In the Mediterranean countries, on the other hand, the difference is lower, about a factor of three, when changing the cut-off from 35 to 10 ppb.

Christer Ågren

The report: Air quality in Europe — 2014 report (November 2014). EEA Report No 5/2014. By the European Environment Agency. Available at: www.eea.europa.eu

Table: Best estimates of premature deaths attributable to exposure to PM_2.5 and O₃ in 40 European countries.

Country	PM_2.5	O₃
Austria	6,768	309
Belgium	10,304	220
Bulgaria	10,806	425
Cyprus	710	41
Czech Republic	10,872	376
Germany	69,762	2,342
Denmark	3,979	117
Estonia	647	27
Spain	25,046	1,772
Finland	2,046	74
Greece	10,700	796
Croatia	5,437	246
Hungary	15,952	556
Ireland	1,229	28
Italy	64,544	3,377
Lithuania	2,556	85
Luxembourg	284	10
Latvia	1,789	58
Malta	247	15
Netherlands	12,634	229
Poland	42,412	1100
Portugal	5,707	330
Romania	28,582	633
Sweden	4,221	181
Slovenia	1,938	97
Slovakia	6,300	243
United Kingdom	39,450	634
Andorra	51	4
Bosnia & Herzegovina	3,412	154
Switzerland	4,394	256
Iceland	54	2
Liechtenstein	16	1
Monaco	29	2
Montenegro	482	31
Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia	1,763	108
Norway	1,473	74
Serbia	13,063	495
San Marino	25	-
All	458,065	17,407
EU-28	431,261	16,160

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