Air pollution remains the main health risk for Europeans

Today, the new EU Directive on air quality comes into force, which aims to tackle this problem.

Europeans continue to be exposed to pollution levels well above the recommendations drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO), with almost 240,000 deaths per year attributed to this problem. Data provided by the European Environment Agency, the EEA, shows that almost 75% of European ecosystems are also exposed to harmful levels of air pollution.

Pollution is the main health risk for Europeans, causing numerous chronic diseases and deaths, especially in cities and peri-urban areas. The EEA data comes on the day the new EU Air Quality Directive comes into force. The Directive introduces a 2030 target for new emission standards in line with WHO recommendations.

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