Euronews.green reports that, as per experts at the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollution is one of the biggest health hazards in the region, adding that efforts have been made in the past decades to improve the quality of the air we breathe. However, these efforts proved insufficient in some urban settlements, as we will soon discover.
In fact, data shows that in most cities, three out of four people are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution and the data is measured based on particulate matter, some of the finest particles that can reach the lungs and even enter the blood stream. These come, among other sources, from cars powered by internal combustion engines, such as gasoline and especially diesel models.
EEA's city air quality index ranks 375 European cities based on their air quality given by the PM2.5 pollutants in the past two years. PM2.5 has the biggest negative impact on the human health than all other small particles, including PM10, because it is the smallest in size and can enter deeper within our bodies.
Uppsala and Umeå are the two European cities, both in Sweden, that top EEA's ranking when it comes to the least amount of PM2.5 pollution, followed by Faro in Portugal was the third urban settlement on the Old Continent where the air quality is above the average.
In fact, only 13 cities in Europe sit below the recommended pollution levels of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the long term, including Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn. In these cases, citizens enjoy fresher air to breathe.
The six countries where the PM2.5 levels sit below the safe limits in the long term are Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Finland, Estonia and Norway.
Slavonski Brod, a city located in Croatia is on the opposite side of the map, literally, as it's levels of fine particulate matter pollution overshoot those recommended by the EU. Thus, they sit at 26.5 micrograms per cubic meter, whereas the acceptable limit is 25 micrograms.
Nowy Sacz in Poland is Europe's second most polluted city, followed by Padova and Venezia, for example.
The actions taken in these cities go against the plans of the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve a 55% reduction of the premature pollution-related deaths by 2030, compared to data from 2005.
Bucharest, Romania's capital city, sits in the 314th spot, with 15.6 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter, technically well within WHO's guidelines, but there's still room for improvement and an even cleaner air means less risk for sickness.
To accelerate the rate of change within the region, experts at the EEA will release a study later this year on how air pollution affects the continent's population and the ecosystems. The data will include estimated deaths, as well as how many people will be severely affected by air pollution.
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