Health costs incurred as a result of air pollution are collectively higher in London than any other city in Europe, according to study that quantifies how much money European city dwellers spend due to particulate matter, NO2, and ozone
The average London resident spends roughly €1,294 a year on various health costs incurred due to air pollution, coughing up marginally more money due to toxic air than the average European city resident, a major study published this morning reveals.
In an analysis that pins a value on the health costs that result from the huge quantities of particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) released into the atmosphere in Europe's cities, the European Public Health Alliance has revealed that across the continent city dwellers are hit by average costs that reache €1,276 per person per year.
The study, which looked at 432 cities in the EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland, reveals that Europeans living in bigger, more expensive cities - like London - tended to face the highest pollution costs. However, these residents were also joined by citizens living in cities in central and Eastern Europe that suffer from particularly bad air pollution levels. In Bucharest and Warsaw, for instance, residents are hit by air pollution costs that reach €3,004 and €2,433 a year, respectively, according to the research.
The study reveals that air pollution collectively costs Londoners €11.4bn a year - an exorbitant sum that far exceeds the European average of €385m per city and puts it at the top of the European league table for overall costs incurred due to toxic air. The damages incurred by air pollution in the UK capital are nearly double those that result from air pollution in the next-worst cities, Bucharest, Berlin and Warsaw, which the study pins at £6.3bn, £5.2bn and £4.2bn respectively.
With two thirds of cities in Europe breaching clean air standards set by the World Health Organisation, the European Environment Agency estimates that ozone, particulate matter, and NO2 collectively cause about 400,000 early deaths annually across Europe, and the cost of these premature deaths, as well as medical treatment and lost working days were all taken into account in today's study.
EPHA acting secretary general Sascha Marschang said the research underscored the "magnitude of the damage" toxic air was causing to people's health, while also revealing "huge health inequalities" across Europe.
He called on the EU and national governments to bear the findings of the study in mind as they designed future transport policies, noting that a move away from oil-based transport should drive down air pollution-related costs.
"To a large extent, the situation can be influenced by transport policies and cities can reduce costs by switching to zero emission urban mobility," Marschang said. "Governments and the European Union should bear these costs in mind for transport policy in order to support, not to hinder, a healthy recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic."
The EPHA said its analysis highlighted that city policies that drive small shifts in transport habits could make a "substantial difference" to the costs shouldered by citizens, with findings demonstrating that a one per cent increase in the average journey time to work increased the costs of particulate matter emissions and NO2 emissions by 0.29 per cent and 0.54 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, a one per cent increase in the number of cars in a city was revealed to increase overall pollution costs by almost half a per cent.
The research also underscored how particulate matter, which is incurred from a wide range pollution sources, is the most costly pollutant for Europeans, responsible for 82.5 per cent of average costs across the continent, while NO2, which is generated largely from traffic, was responsible for 15 per cent. Ozone is responsible for the remaining slither of emissions, equivalent to less than three per cent of costs.
The study, the largest of its kind in terms of the number of cities and pollutants studied, relied on data from EU statistics agency Eurostat and official monitoring stations for its calculations. It did not include indoor pollution, which is thought to be another significant cause of illness and health costs.