Air pollution: Nearly everyone in Europe breathing bad air

Rodrigo Menegat Schuinski

With the EU voting on new air quality rules, satellite data shows that 98% of people face pollution above limits recommended by the World Health Organization.

In practical terms, this means that almost everyone on the continent is breathing bad air that has been shown to be fatal.

Air pollution increases the risk of respiratory and heart disease and lowers life expectancy. "With the current levels of air pollution, many people [are getting] sick. We know that lowering air pollution levels reduces these numbers," said Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).

DW partnered with the European Data Journalism Network to analyze satellite data from the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS)

We found that in 2022, almost everyone in Europe — 98% of people — lived in areas where the concentration of fine particulate matter, commonly abbreviated as PM 2.5, was over the limit set by the WHO.

The WHO recommends that the annual average concentration of fine particulate pollution should not exceed five micrograms per cubic meter of air. A microgram is a thousand times less than a milligram.

Pollution levels differ from region to region in Europe. It can be especially severe in parts of Central Europe, the Po valley in Italy and in larger metropolitan areas, such as Athens, Barcelona and Paris.

European air quality is generally better than in other regions of the world

In northern Indian cities, such as New Delhi, Varanasi and Agra, for example, average PM 2.5 values can get as high as 100 micrograms per cubic meter. In Europe, our data shows pollution levels of up to 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

But even at Europe's comparatively lower levels, pollution can have a significant impact on people's health.

Europe's new air quality rules would allow an annual average concentration of 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter of air.

The European Parliament's Environment Committee had suggested adopting the WHO recommendations, which are stricter at five micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter of air.

Air quality consistently bad in northern Italy

A study published in the science journal The Lancet used pollution data from 2015 to estimate that around 10% of deaths in cities like Milan could be prevented if average PM 2.5 concentrations dropped by around 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

If Europe's major cities were able to hit the five micrograms per cubic meter target, the researchers concluded there would be 100,000 fewer pollution-related deaths every year.

But that's not the direction that the Po valley is headed.

Poland gets rid of coal furnaces and improves air quality

In parts of Poland, pollution levels are among the highest in Europe. But they have decreased steadily since 2018 — the first year in the data we analyzed.

Take the city of Krakow, the second largest city in the country. Back in 2018, the region saw annual pollution levels of nearly 25 micrograms per cubic meter. By the end of 2022, it had dropped by more than 20%.

"We call them 'smokers' as they produce a lot of smoke, but they are old furnaces," said Piotr Siergiej at the environmental organization Polish Smog Alert. "Nearly 800,000 have been replaced, but there are still around 3 million left. It's a slow process."

In the Krakow area, where a ban on burning coal and wood for domestic heating came into effect in 2019, almost all the old heaters have been replaced.

How do public attitudes affect air quality policy?

"Ten years ago, if you talked about air pollution in Poland, people said it was not a big deal it felt like banging your head against the wall," Sierjiej said. "But after years of constant banging, the biggest success is the change in perception. The law is important, but politicians will only do what [voters want]."

According to a 2022 Eurobarometer survey, a majority of Europeans see respiratory diseases caused by air pollution as a serious problem now. While many respondents said they didn't feel well informed about the current standards, the large majority of those that are aware think that air quality rules should be strengthened.