Tougher Air Rules for Europe? - 30 September, 2012.
How tight should the air pollution laws be? There
is a lot of argument and concern not only over health issues but over costs and
technical limits. With an overhaul of air quality laws due within a year in
Europe, health advocates are calling for the European Commission to resist
pressure to tone down the EU’s pollution standards and instead replace them
with stronger UN guidelines. The call for tougher anti-pollution measures came
two days after a report by the European Environment Agency showed that nearly
one-third of urban residents breathe air that is far dirtier than the law
allows. The tally rises to well over 80% when the recommendations of the UN
World Heath Organization are applied.
"If we are serious about health, we have to
apply these [WHO] standards," Anne Stauffer, deputy director of the
Brussels-based Health and Environment Alliance, told EurActiv. WHO is the World
Health Organization who have established world health based standards for sir
quality.
"We know and see that air pollution continues
to be a massive problem for the health of individuals and for our economies,
and we think that the MEPs need to strengthen the guidelines and should reject
attempts to weaken them," Stauffer told a European Parliament hearing on
air quality.
The European Commission is to present revisions to
the EU’s 2008 air quality directive in 2013 - designated "The Year of
Air" by the EU executive. Air quality is expected to be among the
priorities for Ireland when it takes over the rotating European Council
presidency on 1 January 2013.
EEA’s report shows that nearly one-third of
European urbanites breathe high levels of particulate matter - or smoke, dirt,
dust, and toxic vehicle and industrial exhaust - and 17% are exposed to high
levels of ozone, ground-level pollutants that causes smog.
Under the WHO guidelines, 80% of EU urban residents
inhale particulate matter and 97% ozone at levels that can lead to respiratory
and heart problems.
But any talk of tougher pollution guidelines may
seem meaningless given the record of compliance with the existing measures.
Some 20 countries have been accused of failing to implement or enforce the
present air quality directives.
The Commission in recent months has filed against
Poland, Slovenia, Italy, and Portugal.
Some of Europe’s most industrially productive
regions have called for more flexibility in enforcing pollution rules at the
risk of putting the brake on economic growth.
The argument over air quality standards occurs in
every country for the same reasons of economy versus health. Both sides argue
the technical limits in terms that work towards favoring their own set of
standards.
For further information see New
Europe Air Rules.
Source: www.enn.com
30 September, 2012.