Europe's cities with the highest particulate matter pollution

Air pollution forecast: particulate matter pollution in Europe's cities

02/22/2015

Researchers from Austria calculated particulate matter pollution in EU cities in 2030. The prognosis shows that the health risk for a large part of the population will increase if no countermeasures are taken.

Maybe millions of people killed by air pollution
Every year, hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of people worldwide die as a result of air pollution. It is known that the inhaled tiny dust particles damage the lungs and significantly increase the risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Various studies have shown in the past that the risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction or stroke increases significantly due to high particulate matter pollution. In addition, the risk of arteriosclerosis (arteriosclerosis) increases. Furthermore, there are indications that fine dust also promotes diabetes. Austrian researchers have now calculated the possible particulate matter pollution in European cities for the year 2030.

Thick air in Stuttgart and Paris
Again „mirror“ reported online, among others, Paris, Stuttgart and Warsaw will belong in 15 years to Europe's cities with the thickest air. Even though air quality in many European cities has improved in recent years, dirty air will continue to pose a health risk in many places in the future, warn scientists from Austria. Measurement data from all over Europe from 2010 were the basis for Gregor Kiesewetter and his colleagues from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg to calculate the particulate matter pollution in EU cities in 2030.

Legal regulations must be tightened
The good news is that legal regulations are already ensuring that the air in Europe is getting cleaner and cleaner. But if the rules are not tightened, 80% of the EU population will still be exposed to particulate matter in 2030, which is above the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the researchers report in the journal „Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics“. „Current laws are not enough.“, so the experts. Particulate matter prediction involves particles smaller than ten micrometers (PM10). It is generally said that "the particles penetrate deeper into the lungs the smaller they are". For PM10, it has been advising WHO on a limit of 20 micrograms per cubic meter as an annual average. However, the EU limit is twice as high (40 micrograms per square meter), which many experts have been criticizing for a long time.

Map of Europe shows affected metropolises
A map of Europe, created by the researchers, shows the cities as red dots, in which, according to the model calculation in 2030, the particulate matter will reach values ​​above 35 micrograms per square meter. Among them are metropolises of millions such as Paris, Turin or Milan and many cities in Eastern Europe such as Warsaw and Sofia, but also Stuttgart. Other German cities (Munich, Berlin and Bremen) are marked as orange dots; these would also exceed the WHO limit at 25 to 35 micrograms. However, air pollution is not a danger for many of us until the future. Already, the stress is far too high in some places. Interestingly, scientists in England have recently found in a study that the particulate matter pollution at red lights is significantly increased and can lead to health problems. (Ad)