Abstract
According to the World Bank Group, 36 of the 50 most polluted cities in the European Union are in Poland. Thus, ambient air pollution and its detrimental health effects are a matter of immense importance in Poland. This narrative review aims to analyse current findings on air pollution and health in Poland, with a focus on respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, as well as the Poles’ awareness of air pollution. PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were searched. In total, results from 71 research papers were summarized qualitatively. In Poland, increased air pollution levels are linked to increased general and respiratory disease mortality rates, higher prevalence of respiratory diseases, including asthma, lung cancer and COVID-19 infections, reduced forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC). The proximity of high traffic areas exacerbates respiratory health problems. People living in more polluted regions (south of Poland) and in the winter season have a higher level of air pollution awareness. There is an urgent need to reduce air pollution levels and increase public awareness of this threat. A larger number of multi-city studies are needed in Poland to consistently track the burden of diseases attributable to air pollution.
Highlights
Ambient air pollution is one of the most significant environmental issues affecting health and wellbeing
This paper aims to review current findings on quality the subject, focusing on respiratory diseases, including lungcurcancer rent findings on the subject, focusing on respiratory diseases, including lung cancer and and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections
Wrotek et al reported that paediatric hospitalizations due to respiratory syncytial virus infections in Poland were significantly associated with a rise in either PM2.5, PM10 or NO2 concentrations [71]
Summary
Ambient air pollution is one of the most significant environmental issues affecting health and wellbeing. It is estimated that in Europe in 2019, about 307,000 premature deaths were caused by chronic exposure to fine particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometres or smaller (PM10 ) and to coarse particulate matter with a diameter of. About 40,000 premature deaths were attributed to chronic nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) exposure [2]. According to the World Bank Group, 36 of the 50 most polluted cities in the European. Polish cities are among the urban areas with the highest estimated PM mortality burden [4]. Despite a consistent decrease in annual outdoor PM concentrations in the most polluted Polish cities in the recent decade, current values still do not meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines [5,6]
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