more than 480,000 premature deaths related to pollution in the air

Air quality is slowly improving in the European Union, but this pollution continues to cause more than 480,000 premature deaths, says the European Environment Agency (EEA) in its annual report released Monday.

The concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2, emitted by diesel engines) and ozone (O3) have slightly decreased in the European air, according to 2015 figures on study, but remain generally above the limits authorized by the EU – and those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), even more stringent.

500,000 premature deaths in less than 25 years

The EEA estimates that fine particles were responsible for around 391,000 premature deaths in 2015 in the 28 EU countries, a figure that rises to 422,000 in the 41 European countries screened in the report.

The figure, therefore, still represents a "reduction of half a million premature deaths per year" compared to 1990, is specified in the release of the EEA.

The number of premature deaths linked to NO2 is estimated at 76,000 in 2015 in the EU (79,000 in the 41 European countries studied). Finally, for ozone the number is estimated at 16,400 (17,700 in 41).

"Invisible killer"

"Air pollution is an invisible killer and we need to redouble our efforts to tackle its causes," said Hans Bruyninckx, executive director of the EEA.

Road transport is one of the main sources of air pollution in Europe, with agriculture, energy production, industry.

Europeans who live in cities, where emissions related to road transport (more harmful because at ground level) are the most important, are particularly affected.

Six countries referred to the EU Court of Justice

The EEA estimates that 6% of the EU's urban population, compared with 7% a year earlier, are exposed to particulate PM2.5 levels (very fine particles of dust, smoke, soot or pollen ) above the authorized limits.

The share of the urban population affected by excessive concentrations of nitrogen dioxide is 7%, compared to 9% in 2015.

By mid-May, six countries had been referred to the EU Court of Justice for failing to meet their air quality requirements: France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary and Romania.