Particulate matter pollution caused around 6500 premature deaths in Belgium in 2019. That is what a report from the European Environment Agency shows. There were 307,000 premature deaths across the EU, 11.3% less in a year.
In addition to the 6,500 premature deaths in Belgium is due to particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 µm (PM 2,5), the treasure with the environment agency (EEA) and that 750 people will be asked to death by nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and 270 of the people, by the ozone (O3). In the whole of the European Union, premature deaths are 307,000 (PM 2.5), 40,400 (NO2) and 16,800 (O3) respectively.
According to the study, more than half (58%) of those lives could theoretically have been saved if all 27 EU member states had met the latest New World Health Organisation air quality standards. In Belgium, 54 percent are involved, or about 3500 deaths that could have been avoided. Heart disease and stroke are the most common causes of premature deaths linked to air pollution, followed by respiratory diseases and lung cancer.
Much progress has been made in recent decades. In the early 1990s, particulate matter caused almost one million premature deaths in the 27 EU countries. In 2005 this had already fallen to 450,000 and in 2019 to 307,000.
