Health Impacts of Air Pollution and the Urgency to Reduce Emissions [INFOGRAPHIC]

This infographic highlights how air pollution is Europe’s biggest environmental threat to health, linking polluted air to major diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, diabetes, cancer, dementia, and impaired child development.

It explains that air pollution impacts vulnerable groups most severely, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with pre-existing conditions. The economic burden is also immense, costing Europe hundreds of billions annually in healthcare, lost productivity, and reduced quality of life. The infographic identifies key sources of pollution—agriculture, industry, transport, energy supply, buildings, and waste—while stressing that pollutants like PM2.5, NOx, SO2, ozone, and ammonia are harmful even at low levels.

It calls on EU and national leaders to urgently cut emissions from all sources and adopt clean air policies that follow science. Solutions include accelerating emissions reductions, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and introducing binding methane targets to protect public health and ensure sustainable healthcare systems.

Source: https://epha.org/new-infographic-health-impacts-of-air-pollution-and-the-urgency-to-reduce-emissions/