Airparif believes that 7,900 premature deaths from poor air quality could have been prevented. Air pollution can cause serious chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseasesas well as some cancers. Airparif notes that the Nitrogen and PM10 particulate levels “continue to decline”, building on improvements made over the past two decades. Although the number of pollution days has decreased, Airparif points out that PM2.5 particles are not included in the threshold for triggering pollution alerts. Indeed, French regulations are well below World Health Organization recommendations40,000 inhabitants still being exposed to nitrogen concentrations above the recommended limits (source 1).
While regulations and favorable weather conditions have helped to reduce air pollution, the situation in Ile-de-France remains a concern for public health. Although no inhabitant is exposed to air quality levels above the legal limit for PM10 particles, the French regulatory limits for air pollution are not still not aligned with WHO recommendations.