Particulate matter: they kill 300,000 Europeans every year

There was once cars they were the perfect emblem of consumer society where, in the climate of economic growth, even the less wealthy families they could afford to buy one to get around on their own. However, nowadays having a car is one have to move comfortable and fast if there is none efficient public transport or shared mobility servicesbut also in the absence of culture.

In Italy, this is the most important means of transport: according to the ACI, the record figure was at the end of 2021 almost 40 million cars on the roadwith all the consequences that entails for health and the environment, about which theHigher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.

The consequences are often unsustainable traffic, poor air quality and noise pollution. According to theEeeEuropean Environment Agency, in 2019 le particulate matter (PM2.5) caused 307,000 deaths inEuropean Union. Another 40,000 deaths are related to chronic exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and nearly 17 thousand perozone (OR₃). Given the strict limits imposed by WHO, more than 94% of Europeans are exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide above the threshold considered safe and 99% to amounts of ozone above the limit.

The number of deaths must also be taken into account traffic accidents (almost 20 thousand in 2021 according to a provisional budget of the European Commission) and the stress, insomnia and psychological problems caused by chronic exposure to excessive levels of noise.