Limiting air pollution 'could prevent 50,000 deaths in Europe'

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/20/limiting-air-pollution-could-prevent-50000-deaths-in-europe

 

Agence France-Presse
Wed 20 Jan 2021 04.32 EST

Limiting air pollution to levels recommended by the World Health Organization could prevent more than 50,000 deaths in Europe annually, according to research.

The WHO estimates air pollution kills more than 7 million people each year and is one of the leading causes of sickness and absence from work globally.

Cities, with their crowded streets and high energy use, are hotspots for illness and disease linked to air pollution.

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Wednesday’s study, published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal, estimated the premature death burden due to these two pollutants in nearly 1,000 cities across Europe.

It found that reducing PM2.5 and NO2 to safe WHO levels could prevent 51,213 premature deaths each year.

Nearly 125,000 deaths annually could be saved if air pollution levels were reduced to the lowest recorded in the study, its authors said.

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