A report recently published by the EEA or the EU Environment Agency says that one death out of eight may be associated with pollution in Europe.

Causes of Deaths

According to the report, factors like noise pollution, air pollution, substandard quality of water, and harmful chemical exposure contribute to 13 percent of all fatalities.

According to Virginijus Sinkevicius, the Environment Commissioner of the EU, there is a link between our population's health and our environment's health. He says caring for the planet will not just save our ecosystems, but it will also save human lives.

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Report's Findings

The report is a comprehensive assessment of Europe's environment and health. It found that 630,000 premature mortalities in Europe can be attributed to environmental causes.

According to the report, 400,000 fatalities per year are attributed to air pollution, while 12,000 mortalities have noise pollution as an attributable cause. For the rest, these could be associated with extreme weather events like heat waves.

The report also added that the population is simultaneously exposed to many factors. On certain occasions, these factors - namely air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, and harmful chemical exposure - combine and act in concert with one another to negatively affect human health.

WHO Assessment

According to the WHO or World Health Organization, air pollution is the cause of deaths worldwide every year. This accounts for one-third of all deaths from lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

A different report from the WHO also says that noise pollution exacerbated heart disease because they raised stress hormones and blood pressure.

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Effects on Certain Sectors

The report assessed affected industries and communities as well. It stressed that poor communities and vulnerable and marginalized peoples are the ones who are most affected by pollution. It says that decisive action is required to protect these sectors.

The report said that the poor are more exposed to extreme weather, such as extreme cold and heatwaves and air pollution. These are linked to their place of residence, workplace, and school location, most often in urban, socially-deprived neighborhoods near heavy vehicular traffic.

Positive Aspects

The report was not all negative, however. It also revealed that premature deaths associated with air pollution fell in 1990, and water quality in most European countries is doing well.

Affected Countries

According to the report, there were apparent differences in Western and Eastern Europe, and the environmental disease incidence is uneven. For example, deaths attributed to pollution is at a low 9% in Iceland and Norway, 23% for Albania, and a high 27% for Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Serbia and Romania have the highest pollution-related rate of deaths on the continent. Montenegro and North Macedonia are also severely affected. For the UK, there are roughly 12% of deaths are associated with environmental pollution.

Developing Countries

Socially deprived communities have to deal with multiple burdens, namely poverty, poor environmental health, and poor human health.

The Eastern and southeastern European countries are poorer and have more pollution compared to other European countries. Here, particulate matter is especially significant as there are large emissions from solid fuel burning for cooking and heating.

What Can Be Done

According to the EEA report, countries should prioritize blue and green spaces that lower temperatures during heatwaves, reduce floodwaters, support biodiversity in urban areas, and lower noise pollution.

Vehicular traffic, especially diesel-fueled vehicles, must also be reduced. Subsidies for fossil fuels must also be stopped. As an alternative, electric cars must be used more extensively and in more cities.

London's ULEZ or Ultra-Low Emission Zone charges fines for users of older vehicles. France, on the other hand, offers subsidization of bicycling, including bicycle repairs. Meanwhile, Brussels will create 40 kilometers or 25 miles more bicycle paths to lessen pollution in this Belgian section of Europe.

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