the situation is improving in Ile-de-France, but the health of Ile-de-France residents remains threatened

Air quality in Ile-de-France improved slightly in 2022, but the health of Ile-de-France residents is still threatened, announced Thursday April 13 Airparif, the body in charge of monitoring the quality of the air. air in the area. According to the Regional Health Observatory and Airparif, 7,900 premature deaths linked to air pollution would have been avoidable in 2022 if the appropriate measures had been taken. Air pollution is the cause of serious chronic pathologies, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and certain cancers.

The number of pollution days has never been so low, with 10 days compared to 2022, compared to 11 in 2021. However, fine particles (PM 2.5) are not included in the threshold for triggering these alerts, points out Airparif. The organization also points out that the levels of nitrogen and PM 10 particles “keep going down” pursuing their “improvement started two decades ago”.

French standards below WHO recommendations

So, “for the first time, no Ile-de-France resident is exposed to air whose concentration exceeds the regulatory limit value for PM 10 particles (40 micrograms per cubic meter on an annual average)” according to French regulations, notes Airparif. This decrease is due in particular to the regulations put in place, leading to a “trend decrease in emissions from the residential sector and road traffic”and favorable weather conditions which limited heating-related emissions.

But, the French regulations remain far below the recommendations of the WHO. The World Health Organization recommends exposure to PM 10 not exceeding 15 micrograms per cubic meter on average annually. In addition, for nitrogen dioxide, 40,000 Ile-de-France residents are still exposed to air whose concentrations exceed the imposed limit value, set in France at 40 micrograms per cubic meter as an annual average, compared to 10 micrograms per cubic meter for WHO.