Scientists have unveiled a ranking of European cities with the highest rates of deaths associated with air pollution. This is reported in an article published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Experts used recent scientific evidence on the relationship between air pollution levels and mortality to calculate the impact that two different scenarios for reducing air pollution would have on the mortality burden. Three mathematical models were combined to determine the average levels of each pollutant in each city, using the 2015 values as a basis and compared with the 2018 data.
According to the study, if the levels of ultrafine particles PM2.5 and NO2 gas were contained in all analyzed cities at the level recommended by the WHO, then 51 thousand and 900 cases of premature death per year would be avoided, respectively. At the same time, if pollution levels were to drop to the lowest measured values, then the huge number of deaths could be reduced by 125 and 79 thousand deaths per year, respectively.
The highest death rates associated with toxic gas NO2 were observed in cities in countries such as Spain, Belgium, Italy and France. The highest percentage of total mortality (up to seven percent) is recorded in Madrid. Most deaths from suspended particulate matter are recorded in the Po Valley in Italy, southern Poland and the Czech Republic. In the Italian city of Brescia, the proportion of deaths associated with PM2.5 reaches a record 15 percent.
The top ten European cities with the highest mortality rate from particulate matter included: Brescia (Italy), Bergamo (Italy), Karvina (Czech Republic), Vicenza (Italy), Silesian metropolis (Poland), Ostrava (Czech Republic), Jasthe- Zdroj (Poland), Saronno (Italy), Rybnik (Poland), Gavirov (Czech Republic). The top ten for NO2 includes: Madrid (Spain), Antwerp (Belgium), Turin (Italy), Paris (France), Milan (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Mollet del Valles (Spain), Brussels (Belgium), Herne (Germany) and Argenteuil (France).
Cities in the Nordic countries, including Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, turned out to be less dangerous.