In Europe, at least 1,200 children and adolescents die prematurely each year due to air pollution, according to a report by the European Environment Agency, published on Monday 24 April. This pollution also significantly increases the risk of disease later in life. The situation is particularly bad in the Po plain, in Italy, near coal-fired power stations and in the big cities of central and eastern Europe.
Air pollution is the main environmental risk to health, regardless of age, according to the study by the European Environment Agency. The main cause: fine particles, dust and microscopic pollutants that penetrate deep into the lungs. Then come nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3), toxic gases resulting directly or indirectly from industry and exhaust gases.
Their deleterious effects begin even before birth. Maternal exposure to air pollution is linked to low birth weights and premature births “, indeed notes the environmental agency. After birth, environmental pollution increases the risk of several health problems, such as asthma – which affects 9% of children and adolescents in Europe – respiratory failure and lung infections.
Smaller, and therefore closer to car exhausts, but also more active than adults, children are particularly targeted. The agency therefore recommends focusing efforts on air quality around schools and nurseries, as well as sports facilities and public transport.
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The European situation tends to improve all the same
In a previous report in November 2022, the European Environment Agency, however, estimated that the European Union is on the right track to reduce premature deaths linked to these fumes and to achieve its objective of reducing premature deaths by half in 2030 compared to 2005.
At the beginning of the 1990s, fine particles caused nearly one million premature deaths in the European Union, all ages combined. They were still nearly 240,000 in 2020, according to agency data.
The European situation remains generally better than elsewhere on the planet: according to the World Health Organization, air pollution is the cause of seven million premature deaths per year in the world. A balance sheet close to that caused by smoking or poor diet.
► To read also: Air pollution killed 238,000 people in Europe in 2020