Urgent Call to Ensure Clean Air For All in Europe, Fight Health Inequalities and Oppose Delays in Action

As part of the Green Deal, the European Union’s (EU) ambitious plan to be the first climate neutral continent by 2050, EU launched the Zero Pollution Action Plan in 2021. One of the key elements of this plan is an update of the current air quality legislation, the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) with air pollution limit values of 25 μg/m3 for particulate matter with diameter <2.5 µm (PM2.5) and 40 μg/m3 for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The need for a revision became clearer upon release of the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO AQG) in 2021, which recommends limit values (annual mean) of 5 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 10 μg/m3 for NO2, based on a comprehensive global review of the key scientific evidence on health effects of ambient air pollution [1]. The difference between these values exposes the large gap between science-based standards aimed at protecting health and the current, outdated EU AAQD.