France is experiencing a peak in fine particle pollution, but “no measures have been taken” according to the Respire association, to fight against the most dangerous: PM 2.5.
PM 2.5 fine particles are “the most dangerous for health”but they pass “completely off the radar today in France”, regretted Tuesday February 14 on franceinfo Tony Renucci. The director of the Respire association returned in detail to the episode of air pollution which affects a good part of France at the start of the week.
franceinfo: What behaviors to adopt during a pollution peak?
Tony Renucci: We must avoid taking the car or if we have to take it, we can drive in a low-emission vehicle, in an electric vehicle. And then take public transport, favor the bike. As for heating, it’s true that it’s a little more complicated when it’s cold. But at least be able to avoid amenity heating, auxiliary heating, especially if it is wood heating. Finally, you really have to avoid playing sports in the open air because you inhale up to ten times more pollutants.
Should controls be intensified in low emission zones (ZFE)?
Today, we do not know if ZFEs are fully effective as they are applied in France since there is no control. There is no verbalization video. But the debate is broader than just controls. It is the measure itself that must also be changed. It’s an interesting idea, but we also know that there are some shortcomings that are intrinsic. We cannot only say that the oldest vehicles are the most polluting. There is also the question of the use and type of vehicle that is authorized in Crit’Air 1. Today, there are shortcomings, in particular compared to SUVs which are also polluting in the city center. There are people who ride it every day. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a blind spot for EPZs.
What more should be done?
On pollution peaks, there are real shortcomings in France. Today, the regulations only observe peaks on PM10 particles. Everyone says “fine particles”, but they are not fine particles. Fine particles are PM 2.5 which are the most dangerous to health. We are completely off the radar today in France. There was a big pollution peak at the end of November, beginning of December. We haven’t seen anything. There was no action taken. Behind, what is going on? We had big spikes in flu, bronchiolitis, Covid. We know that it is directly linked. There is a study by Jean-Baptiste Renard from the CNRS in 2022 which clearly shows that when there is a pollution peak behind, there is a rise in Covid cases and infections. Now we have to change the law. You really have to observe the peaks from the PM 2.5 fine particles. We need to have automatic measures that apply, including obligations and restrictions. It may also be time in France to get out of this taboo of wood heating and move towards other alternatives.
Is the reduction in speed on the roads in the event of a pollution peak an effective measure?
It’s not sufficient. Can’t say it’s not efficient, but speed sometimes is a false debate. For example, we will pollute more if we stop, if we restart, if we stop. If you drive quietly at a sustained speed on major roads where there are few homes nearby, it’s not really the same debate. I can’t say that’s a bad thing, but in this case, you had to implement the differentiated circulation if you want to have a real impact. There is also the issue of heating, particularly wood heating, on which we only have recommendations and no obligation. This is yet another flaw in the current procedure.
Do we take this issue seriously enough in France?
We have progressed and I have seen it over the years. There is a real progression, including in political discourse. Now, all candidates, whether presidential or legislative, talk about air quality. Public actors, including the government, have also changed their discourse. The difficulty now is to apply the measures. We know the sources of emissions, but we have to apply measures to reduce these sources of emissions. It’s socially difficult, but we have to take our courage in both hands, otherwise we will continue to have serious health consequences.