Air pollution is the main environmental risk factor for health in Europe. It reduces the life span of people and contributes to the spread of serious diseases such as heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer.
According to a new report just published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollution continues to be responsible for over 430 thousand premature deaths in Europe.
Italy, according to estimates of the EEA, is the nation of the European Union (EU) that scores the highest number of premature deaths compared to the normal life expectancy due to air pollution and, in particular, the most affected area is the confirmation of the Po Valley, with Brescia, Monza, Milan, but also Turin, which exceed the limit values at EU level.
The paper studies the EEA exposure of the European population to air pollutants, providing a snapshot on the air quality based on data from official monitoring stations across Europe.
According to the EEA the majority of city dwellers continues to be exposed to levels of air pollutants not considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO); in particular, the pollutants considered most problematic for human health are particulates, ground level ozone and nitrogen dioxide.
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