Clean air in Europe: beyond the horizon?

Brunekreef, Bert; Künzli, Nino; Pekkanen, Juha; Annesi‐Maesano, Isabella; Forsberg, Bertil; Sigsgaard, Torben; Keuken, Menno; Forastiére, Francesco; Barry, Maeve; Querol, Xavier; Harrison, Roy M.

doi:10.1183/09031936.00186114

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In addition, an important regulatory step would be the unconditional adoption of the PM10 and PM2.5 WHO annual mean Air Quality Guideline values to protect public health [128]. Compliance with these science-based guideline values (annual mean PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations of 20 and 10 μg·m , respectively) would inevitably require the development and implementation of clean air strategies and "best available technology" for biomass combustion, comparable to the EU control policies for vehicle emissions.…”

Section: Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health impacts of anthropogenic biomass burning in the developed world

Sigsgaard¹,

et al. 2015

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Climate change policies have stimulated a shift towards renewable energy sources such as biomass. The economic crisis of 2008 has also increased the practice of household biomass burning as it is often cheaper than using oil, gas or electricity for heating. As a result, household biomass combustion is becoming an important source of air pollutants in the European Union.This position paper discusses the contribution of biomass combustion to pollution levels in Europe, and the emerging evidence on the adverse health effects of biomass combustion products.Epidemiological studies in the developed world have documented associations between indoor and outdoor exposure to biomass combustion products and a range of adverse health effects. A conservative estimate of the current contribution of biomass smoke to premature mortality in Europe amounts to at least 40 000 deaths per year.We conclude that emissions from current biomass combustion products negatively affect respiratory and, possibly, cardiovascular health in Europe. Biomass combustion emissions, in contrast to emissions from most other sources of air pollution, are increasing. More needs to be done to further document the health effects of biomass combustion in Europe, and to reduce emissions of harmful biomass combustion products to protect public health. @ERSpublications Biomass combustion is an important source of air pollution and ill health in the EU: emissions need to reduce http://ow.ly/RYkPk

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Section: Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health impacts of anthropogenic biomass burning in the developed world

Sigsgaard¹,

et al. 2015

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“…The lack of clean air policies and their enforcements pose an additional threat to the health systems and economies of resource constrained countries (G. B. D. Risk Factors Collaborators et al 2015). Also, the Commission of the European Union still opposes the adoption of the WHO guideline values for PM, despite having invested large amounts of tax money into cutting-edge research, providing evidence of the adverse health effects of air pollution in Europe (Brunekreef et al 2012, 2015). The resistance to adopt science based standards is unfortunate, given that air pollution is largely preventable and that the costs of the health burden of air pollution are several fold higher than the costs of effective clean air policies (US Environmental Protection Agency-Office of Air and Radiation 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time to harmonize national ambient air quality standards

Joss

Eeftens

Gintowt

et al. 2017

Int J Public Health

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ObjectivesThe World Health Organization has developed ambient air quality guidelines at levels considered to be safe or of acceptable risk for human health. These guidelines are meant to support governments in defining national standards. It is unclear how they are followed.MethodsWe compiled an inventory of ambient air quality standards for 194 countries worldwide for six air pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. We conducted literature and internet searches and asked country representatives about national ambient air quality standards.ResultsWe found information on 170 countries including 57 countries that did not set any air quality standards. Levels varied greatly by country and by pollutant. Ambient air quality standards for PM2.5, PM10 and SO2 poorly complied with WHO guideline values. The agreement was higher for CO, SO2 (10-min averaging time) and NO2.ConclusionsRegulatory differences mirror the differences in air quality and the related burden of disease around the globe. Governments worldwide should adopt science based air quality standards and clean air management plans to continuously improve air quality locally, nationally, and globally.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00038-017-0952-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Very large percentages of population are exposed to PM 10 (PM less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter) and PM 2.5 (PM less than 2.5 μm in diameter) levels exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines (World Health Organization. WHO, 2014), moreover significant percentages live in cities with PM levels exceeding the much higher European limits (Barmpadimos et al, 2012;Brunekreef et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%