A European Air Quality Index was launched by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission. Users can check the current air quality across Europe’s cities and regions. The Index is accompanied by country fact sheets that provide annually updated air quality information for EEA member countries.
The Air Quality Index consists of an interactive map that shows the local air quality situation at station level, based on five key pollutants that harm people’s health and the environment: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide.The information is based on measurements from more than 2,000 air quality monitoring stations across Europe.
The describes information complement the EEA’s annual Air Quality in Europe report. The 2017 report was published in October. It shows that most people living in Europe’s cities are still exposed to levels of air pollution deemed harmful by the World Health Organization. The most harmful pollutant is fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Road transport, agriculture, power plants, industry, and households are the biggest emitters of air pollutants in Europe. According to the report, air pollution has also significant economic impacts, increasing medical costs, reducing employees’ productivity, and damaging soil, crops, forests, lakes, and rivers.
