According to the latest data published by Airparif, air quality improved in 2022. But beware, the pollution levels observed are still far from meeting the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Good news ! Air quality in Île-de-France has improved slightly in 2022, Airparif announced on Thursday. Indeed, the number of pollution days has never been so low, with 10 days (compared to 11 in 2021). Another positive point, the levels of nitrogen and particulate matter (PM 10) “continue to decline“pursuing their”improvement started two decades ago“.
So “for the first time, no Parisian is exposed to air whose concentration exceeds the regulatory limit value for PM 10 particles (40 micrograms per cubic meter on annual average)” according to French regulations, notes Airparif, in charge of monitoring air quality in the region.
This decrease is notably due to the regulations put in place, leading to a “downward trend in emissions from the residential sector and road traffic“, and favorable weather conditions that limited heating-related emissions.
7,900 premature deaths linked to air pollution would have been avoidable in 2022 if the right measures had been taken
Regional health observatory in IDF and Airparif
However, there are several downsides. First, the consideration of fine individuals (PM 2.5), insofar as they are not integrated into the triggering of these alerts. Airparif also points out that French regulations are still far below WHO recommendations, revised in 2021. According to the latter, “nearly 90% of Ile-de-France residents“were in fact exposed last year to exceeding the thresholds for PM 10 and “totality” of them was also for PM 2.5.
The WHO recommends exposure to PM 10 not exceeding 15 micrograms/m3 on average annually. For PM 2.5, the annual average limit is set at 5 micrograms/m3. In addition, for nitrogen dioxide, 40,000 Ile-de-France residents are still exposed to air whose concentrations exceed the imposed limit value, set in France at 40 micrograms/m3 as an annual average (10 micrograms/m3 for the WHO).
Last October, the European Union began a process of lowering the limit values for air pollution, which without being aligned with those of the WHO, will approach them by 2030 (10 micrograms/m3 for PM 2.5 and 20 micrograms for nitrogen dioxide).
But the black spot in Île-de-France remains low altitude ozone, an air pollutant and greenhouse gas that forms by combining other pollutants in the presence of high heat and strong sunshine. Its presence is increasing with global warming.
The concentration of this gas shows no improvement and would even tend to progress, the quality objective being exceeded at all points in the region by 2022, both with regard to French regulations (limit of 120 micrograms/m3 over a period 8 hours) than those of the WHO (100 micrograms/m3 over 8 hours).
Air pollution is the cause of serious chronic pathologies, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and certain cancers. According to the Regional Health Observatory in IDF and Airparif, 7,900 premature deaths linked to air pollution would have been avoidable in 2022 if the appropriate measures had been taken, i.e. as many as in 2021.
Source: AFP
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