Pierre Sicard1, Evgenios Agathokleous2, Alessandra De Marco3, Elena Paoletti4, Vicent Calatayud5. 1. ARGANS, 260 route du Pin Montard, Biot, France. 2. Institute of Ecology, Key Laboratory of Agro-Meteorology of Jiangsu Province, School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China. 3. Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment, C.R. Casaccia, Italy. 4. Institute of Research On Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy. 5. Fundación CEAM, C/ Charles R. Darwin, Parque Tecnológico14, Paterna, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The paper presents an overview of air quality in the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (previous EU-28), from 2000 to 2017. We reviewed the progress made towards meeting the air quality standards established by the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (European Council Directive 2008/50/EC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines by estimating the trends (Mann-Kendal test) in national emissions of main air pollutants, urban population exposure to air pollution, and in mortality related to exposure to ambient fine particles (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3). RESULTS: Despite significant reductions of emissions (e.g., sulfur oxides: ~ 80%, nitrogen oxides: ~ 46%, non-methane volatile organic compounds: ~ 44%, particulate matters with a diameter lower than 2.5 µm and 10 µm: ~ 30%), the EU-28 urban population was exposed to PM2.5 and O3 levels widely exceeding the WHO limit values for the protection of human health. Between 2000 and 2017, the annual PM2.5-related number of deaths decreased (- 4.85 per 106 inhabitants) in line with a reduction of PM2.5 levels observed at urban air quality monitoring stations. The rising O3 levels became a major public health issue in the EU-28 cities where the annual O3-related number of premature deaths increased (+ 0.55 deaths per 106 inhabitants). CONCLUSIONS: To achieve the objectives of the Ambient Air Quality Directives and mitigate air pollution impacts, actions need to be urgently taken at all governance levels. In this context, greening and re-naturing cities and the implementation of fresh air corridors can help meet air quality standards, but also answer to social needs, as recently highlighted by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
BACKGROUND: The paper presents an overview of air quality in the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (previous EU-28), from 2000 to 2017. We reviewed the progress made towards meeting the air quality standards established by the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (European Council Directive 2008/50/EC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines by estimating the trends (Mann-Kendal test) in national emissions of main air pollutants, urban population exposure to air pollution, and in mortality related to exposure to ambient fine particles (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3). RESULTS: Despite significant reductions of emissions (e.g., sulfur oxides: ~ 80%, nitrogen oxides: ~ 46%, non-methane volatile organic compounds: ~ 44%, particulate matters with a diameter lower than 2.5 µm and 10 µm: ~ 30%), the EU-28 urban population was exposed to PM2.5 and O3 levels widely exceeding the WHO limit values for the protection of human health. Between 2000 and 2017, the annual PM2.5-related number of deaths decreased (- 4.85 per 106 inhabitants) in line with a reduction of PM2.5 levels observed at urban air quality monitoring stations. The rising O3 levels became a major public health issue in the EU-28 cities where the annual O3-related number of premature deaths increased (+ 0.55 deaths per 106 inhabitants). CONCLUSIONS: To achieve the objectives of the Ambient Air Quality Directives and mitigate air pollution impacts, actions need to be urgently taken at all governance levels. In this context, greening and re-naturing cities and the implementation of fresh air corridors can help meet air quality standards, but also answer to social needs, as recently highlighted by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Authors: Valda Araminienė; Pierre Sicard; Alessandro Anav; Evgenios Agathokleous; Vidas Stakėnas; Alessandra De Marco; Iveta Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė; Elena Paoletti; Rasa Girgždienė Journal: Sci Total Environ Date: 2018-12-10 Impact factor: 7.963
Authors: Alessandra De Marco; Patrick Amoatey; Yusef Omidi Khaniabadi; Pierre Sicard; Philip K Hopke Journal: Eur J Intern Med Date: 2018-08-16 Impact factor: 4.487
Authors: Elena Paoletti; Alessandra De Marco; David C S Beddows; Roy M Harrison; William J Manning Journal: Environ Pollut Date: 2014-06-03 Impact factor: 8.071
Authors: G Goudarzi; S M Daryanoosh; H Godini; P K Hopke; P Sicard; A De Marco; H D Rad; A Harbizadeh; F Jahedi; M J Mohammadi; J Savari; S Sadeghi; Z Kaabi; Y Omidi Khaniabadi Journal: Public Health Date: 2017-05-02 Impact factor: 2.427
Authors: Pierre Sicard; Alessandra De Marco; Evgenios Agathokleous; Zhaozhong Feng; Xiaobin Xu; Elena Paoletti; José Jaime Diéguez Rodriguez; Vicent Calatayud Journal: Sci Total Environ Date: 2020-05-20 Impact factor: 7.963
Authors: Iana Markevych; Natasza Orlov; James Grellier; Katarzyna Kaczmarek-Majer; Małgorzata Lipowska; Katarzyna Sitnik-Warchulska; Yarema Mysak; Clemens Baumbach; Maja Wierzba-Łukaszyk; Munawar Hussain Soomro; Mikołaj Compa; Bernadetta Izydorczyk; Krzysztof Skotak; Anna Degórska; Jakub Bratkowski; Bartosz Kossowski; Aleksandra Domagalik; Marcin Szwed Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-12-28 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Stefanos Agathokleous; Costas J Saitanis; Chrysanthos Savvides; Pierre Sicard; Evgenios Agathokleous; Alessandra De Marco Journal: J For Res (Harbin) Date: 2022-08-20 Impact factor: 2.361
Authors: Alberto Izzotti; Paola Spatera; Zumama Khalid; Alessandra Pulliero Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-08-25 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Corina Popitanu; Gabriela Cioca; Lucian Copolovici; Dennis Iosif; Florentina-Daniela Munteanu; Dana Copolovici Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-05-02 Impact factor: 3.390