COPENHAGEN: A European Union environmental agency said on Monday that air pollution takes lives more than 1,200 lives a year below 18s across Europe and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life.
Despite recent enhancements “the level of key air pollutants in many European countries remain much above World Health Organisation” yardstick, especially in central-eastern Europe and Italy, said the EEA after a study in over 30 countries, including the 27 members of the European Union.
The report did not say anything about major industrial nations including Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, suggesting the overall death tolls for the continent could be much higher.
last November, the EEA announced that 238,000 people died prematurely due to air pollution in 2020 in the EU, and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkiye.
“Air pollution leads to over 1,200 premature deaths per year in people under the age of 18 in Europe and significantly increases the risk of disease later in life,” the agency said.
The study was the agency’s first to focus precisely on children.
It said that although the number of premature deaths in this age group was low relative to the total for the European population estimated by EEA each year, deaths early in life represent a loss of future potential and come with a significant burden of chronic illness, both in childhood and later in life, according to AFP.
