According to a new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA), 253,000 deaths in EU countries could have been prevented if WHO guidelines for fine particulate matter concentrations had been met.
The new data indicates that air pollution causes or worsens certain diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, asthma, and diabetes. Despite improved air quality in the EU over the past twenty years, air pollution in urban areas still kills too many people in Europe, the study concludes.
The new EU analysis was published late last week in Rotterdam at the fourth Clean Air Forum, organized by the European Commission in cooperation with the Dutch Minister of the Environment, Vivianne Heijnen. The forum brought together 300 participants from business, academia, civil society, and government agencies.
A recent French study by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) earlier this year showed for the first time that the risk of breast cancer rises by 28 percent when inhaling excessive fine particulate matter, as often occurs in cities.
Since 2015, it has been known that air pollution causes lung cancer in non-smokers, but there are no studies yet that have established the same link with breast cancer.