As science reveals more and more links between air pollution and the effects of COVID-19, the pressure to set high ambitions in laws that regulate air quality is increasing.
This is at least the case in Europe. The European Union Commission is urged to set ambitious targets and not to play games in the revision of the EU's Air Quality Directive.
It's no secret that air pollution is strongly associated with various kinds of diseases. And now, scientists are starting new research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the relationship between infectious diseases such as COVID-19, and air pollution.
At an event organized by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) Thursday (10/2), two scientists explained that there is more evidence that levels of air pollution can exacerbate the spread and severity of COVID-19.
A study by Dutch consultant CE Delft investigating the situation in the Netherlands stated that if air pollution was lower, fewer COVID-19 control measures would be needed.
And had policy efforts to prevent air pollution been stronger, significant social costs could have been avoided. But despite these preliminary results, more research in the field is needed.
"The relationship between air pollution and virus transmission is still uncertain, so further research is needed. Nevertheless, we can say that the relationship between air pollution and virus transmission forms an additional argument for ambitious air quality policies," said Daan Juijn, co-author of the study. "Air pollution and COVID-19" in the Netherlands.
Quoted from Euractiv, he was supported by Annette Peters, a researcher at the Helmholtz Institute of Epidemiology Munich, who is also researching this issue.
"There is emerging evidence that air pollution is linked to infectious disease, something we may have overlooked previously. The pandemic situation is complex and studies are needed to fully understand the impact, so this is still early days. However, action is needed to reduce air pollution," he said at the event. the.
The study in the Netherlands focuses on the COVID-19 situation and the level of air pollution in the Netherlands. The results conclude that the social costs, both economic and non-economic increments such as welfare, from COVID-19 control measures are necessary as air pollution is worth around 11 billion euros. This equates to about 1.5% of the Netherlands' GDP.
In that context, Juijn points out that these figures could be higher in countries with higher levels of air pollution. Both he and Peters called for more research in the area.
Higher ambitions in the European Union's Air Quality Directive put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 led to temporary air quality improvements. However, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report in November 2021 that air pollution still accounts for 307,000 premature deaths a year, for the European region alone.
The EEA air quality display shows fine particulate levels measured in European cities, revealing that the largest proportion of the most polluted cities are in eastern and southern Europe.
Following the launch of the WHO's new Global Air Quality Guidelines last September, the European Commission has begun reviewing the revised Air Quality Directive that began in 2008, and will present its proposals in the third quarter of this year.
Vicente Franco, a policy officer at the Directorate General of Environment's Environmental Commission, said it would take a lot of work to achieve the very ambitious goals set by the WHO.
"One element of the feedback we got from stakeholders, including member states, was that perhaps this aspect of air quality monitoring, modeling and planning was poorly specified in the directive, and they would welcome a higher level of harmonization of specifications and how things have to be done," Franco said.
Director of Nature and Health Client Earth Ugo Taddei said it would take very strong policies to put us on the right track to tackle the human health crisis caused by air pollution, as the numbers are quite staggering.
"This requires a very strong answer from policy makers and civil society," he said.