A new study by Santé Publique France – a French public health agency SPF – underlines how air pollution carries a very important health and economic impact on the country. Exposure to PM2.5 and NO₂ is, according to estimations, linked to tens of thousands of ailments per year at the cost of over €16 billion annually to the country.
From the mortality burden alone-40,000 deaths annually-the investigation describes a high burden of disease. There is a strong association of chronic exposures to air pollution with lung cancer, asthma, strokes, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Attributable fractions due to air pollution for respiratory illnesses among children range between 12% and 20%, while for adults it ranges from 7% to 13% for respiratory, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases.
It is especially damaging, as it comes mainly from traffic, heating, agriculture, and industry. It is responsible for 40,000 new cases annually of childhood asthma and more than 22,000 cases in adults of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. NO₂, caused mainly by road traffic, results in 21,000 new cases of asthma in urban areas.
The economic cost is staggering fine particles alone account for €12.9 billion per year, or nearly €200 per inhabitant, while NO₂ pollution costs an additional €3.8 billion annually. Childhood asthma alone represents a €7 billion yearly expense. These estimates, developed with Aix-Marseille School of Economic, consider healthcare costs, lost productivity, and diminished quality of life.
Bringing pollution levels within WHO recommended limits could avoid 75% of the disease burden due to PM2.5 and 50% due to NO₂, at a cost of €9.6 billion and €1.7 billion per year, respectively. For childhood asthma alone, meeting WHO standards would eliminate 30,000 new cases per year and save over €3 billion.
Yet France is far from reaching those goals. In the period between 2016 and 2019, the concentrations of PM2.5 were almost double the WHO guidelines, while in urban areas, NO₂ reached 23 µg/m³, more than double the average in rural areas. The study says that cuts in road traffic are most important, but wood heating, farming, and industry also need to be curbed.
These are findings that should constitute a real wake-up call”, says Caroline Semaille, SPF’s Director-General. “With policy makers now having to take so many bold but unpopular decisions, it sends a strong signal that action on air pollution remains urgent both on health and environmental grounds”.
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