Spatial and sector-specific contributions of emissions to ambient air pollution and mortality in European cities: a health impact assessment.
The Lancet. Public health 2023 ; 8: e546-e558.
Khomenko S, Pisoni E, Thunis P, Bessagnet B, Cirach M, Iungman T, Barboza EP, Khreis H, Mueller N, Tonne C, de Hoogh K, Hoek G, Chowdhury S, Lelieveld J, Nieuwenhuijsen M
DOI : 10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00106-8
PubMed ID : 37393093
PMCID :
URL : https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2468266723001068
Abstract
Ambient air pollution is a major risk to health and wellbeing in European cities. We aimed to estimate spatial and sector-specific contributions of emissions to ambient air pollution and evaluate the effects of source-specific reductions in pollutants on mortality in European cities to support targeted source-specific actions to address air pollution and promote population health.
We conducted a health impact assessment of data from 2015 for 857 European cities to estimate source contributions to annual PM and NO concentrations using the Screening for High Emission Reduction Potentials for Air quality tool. We evaluated contributions from transport, industry, energy, residential, agriculture, shipping, and aviation, other, natural, and external sources. For each city and sector, three spatial levels were considered: contributions from the same city, the rest of the country, and transboundary. Mortality effects were estimated for adult populations (ie, ≥20 years) following standard comparative risk assessment methods to calculate the annual mortality preventable on spatial and sector-specific reductions in PM and NO.
We observed strong variability in spatial and sectoral contributions among European cities. For PM, the main contributors to mortality were the residential (mean contribution of 22·7% [SD 10·2]) and agricultural (18·0% [7·7]) sectors, followed by industry (13·8% [6·0]), transport (13·5% [5·8]), energy (10·0% [6·4]), and shipping (5·5% [5·7]). For NO, the main contributor to mortality was transport (48·5% [SD 15·2]), with additional contributions from industry (15·0% [10·8]), energy (14·7% [12·9]), residential (10·3% [5·0]), and shipping (9·7% [12·7]). The mean city contribution to its own air pollution mortality was 13·5% (SD 9·9) for PM and 34·4% (19·6) for NO, and contribution increased among cities of largest area (22·3% [12·2] for PM and 52·2% [19·4] for NO) and among European capitals (29·9% [12·5] for PM and 62·7% [14·7] for NO).
We estimated source-specific air pollution health effects at the city level. Our results show strong variability, emphasising the need for local policies and coordinated actions that consider city-level specificities in source contributions.
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, State Research Agency, Generalitat de Catalunya, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en red Epidemiología y Salud Pública, and Urban Burden of Disease Estimation for Policy Making 2023-2026 Horizon Europe project.