Air Quality Directive Research Articles

Individual right to clean air including compensation for health damage – comment on JP v Ministre de la Transition écologique, C-61/21

Abstract On the one hand, the EU member states are to manage ambient air quality in line with the Air Quality Directive (dir. 2008/50/EC) provisions that put forward local air quality targets. On the other hand, EU citizens have their right to demand that their local authorities pass ‘air quality plans’ for towns or districts where air quality standards were below the so-called limit values. In 2008, in the Janecek Judgement of the Court of Justice of 25.07.2008, C-237/07 Dieter Janecek v. Freistaat Bayern EU:C:2008:447. case the Court of Justice of the EU (the CJEU) for the first time recognised the direct effect of Articles 13 and 23 of this directive, and in this way granted rights to individuals to challenge local air quality plans for their inefficiency. The main point of this article is to prove that EU citizens have a subjective, justiciable right to clean and healthy air, and to examine whether this right entitles them to compensation for health damage due to air pollution, as was the subject matter of the commented case: JP v Ministre de la Transition écologique. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the three conditions of the Francovich rule for state liability established in the Brasserie du Pêcheur case: ‘1. the rule of law infringed must be intended to confer rights on individuals; 2. the breach must be sufficiently serious, 3. and there must be a direct causal link between the breach of the obligation resting on the state and the damage sustained by the injured parties’ Judgement of the Court of Justice of 5.03.1996, C-46/93 and 48/93 Brasserie du Pêcheur EU:C:1996:79. .

Causes of the unremitting high ambient levels of PM10 in a suburban background site in NE Spain

Atmospheric PM10 and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) concentrations in Manlleu (NE Spain) have remained high from 2008 to 2023, frequently exceeding EU limit/target values, and reaching BaP levels up to six times higher than urban averages in Spain. Furthermore, PM speciation campaigns were carried out in 2013, 2014–2015, 2016–2017 and 2021–2022. Chemical mass closure for autumn-winter showed a consistent PM10 composition for the different PM speciation campaigns, comprising 46–53% organic matter (OM), 18–26% secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), 13–23% mineral matter (MM), and 5–9% elemental carbon (EC). Trend analysis revealed very light decrease and constant concentrations for PM10 and BaP, respectively over the study period, emphasizing the need for compliance with current and forthcoming EU air quality directives, the last aiming to halve PM10 limit values. Source apportionment of samples of the sporadic campaigns identified biomass burning (BB, 17.5 μg m−3, 48%) and MM and industry (16.3 μg m−3, 44%) as the main autumn-winter PM10 contributors, with high SIA concentrations attributed to several factors, including high ammonia (NH3) emissions. Local topography and meteorological conditions contribute to aggravate PM10 pollution. While metal concentrations have decreased since 2013, suggesting reduced industrial emissions, persistently high OM and EC concentrations indicate ongoing issues with BB emissions from domestic, commercial, and agricultural sources. Online analysis of black carbon (BC) and non-refractory PM1 components during winter 2016–2017 confirmed domestic and commercial BB as the primary sources of the BB contributions. These findings highlight the need of the implementation of more effective measures in reducing BB and agricultural/farming NH3 emissions. This study highlights the relevance of these issues for similar towns, the probable unremitting problem over the last decade, and the necessity of enhanced monitoring in small cities and policy actions to meet air quality standards under the new EU directive.

Taking Stock of the Revision to the Ambient Air Quality Directives in Europe

Taking Stock of the Revision to the Ambient Air Quality Directives in Europe

Using dispersion models at microscale to assess long-term air pollution in urban hot spots: A FAIRMODE joint intercomparison exercise for a case study in Antwerp

In the framework of the Forum for Air Quality Modelling in Europe (FAIRMODE), a modelling intercomparison exercise for computing NO2 long-term average concentrations in urban districts with a very high spatial resolution was carried out. This exercise was undertaken for a district of Antwerp (Belgium). Air quality data includes data recorded in air quality monitoring stations and 73 passive samplers deployed during one-month period in 2016. The modelling domain was 800 × 800 m2. Nine modelling teams participated in this exercise providing results from fifteen different modelling applications based on different kinds of model approaches (CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics-, Lagrangian, Gaussian, and Artificial Intelligence). Some approaches consisted of models running the complete one-month period on an hourly basis, but most others used a scenario approach, which relies on simulations of scenarios representative of wind conditions combined with post-processing to retrieve a one-month average of NO2 concentrations.The objective of this study is to evaluate what type of modelling system is better suited to get a good estimate of long-term averages in complex urban districts. This is very important for air quality assessment under the European ambient air quality directives. The time evolution of NO2 hourly concentrations during a day of relative high pollution was rather well estimated by all models. Relative to high resolution spatial distribution of one-month NO2 averaged concentrations, Gaussian models were not able to give detailed information, unless they include building data and street-canyon parameterizations. The models that account for complex urban geometries (i.e. CFD, Lagrangian, and AI models) appear to provide better estimates of the spatial distribution of one-month NO2 averages concentrations in the urban canopy. Approaches based on steady CFD-RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes) model simulations of meteorological scenarios seem to provide good results with similar quality to those obtained with an unsteady one-month period CFD-RANS simulations.

Air Pollution as a Whole: The Court of Justice Strengthens Environmental Standards in the Ambient Air Quality Directive over Contrasting Industrial Emissions Directive Derogations

Abstract On 9 March 2023, the Court of Justice (Second Chamber) delivered a preliminary ruling about the coordination of two European Union measures against air pollution: the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Ambient Air Quality Directive. Upon assessment, the Court reinforced the mandatory nature of the air quality limit values vis-à-vis possible derogations foreseen in the Industrial Emissions Directive. In this case, both AG Kokott and the Second Chamber affirmed the primacy of the air quality standards. However, this Case Note finds that slightly different reasoning between the AG Opinion and the final Judgment reveals differing underlying approaches. Whilst the AG focuses on air quality plans and leaves more room for discretion to national authorities, the final Judgment anchors the coordination of the two Directives to strict and objective pollution limit values, further strengthening the Ambient Air Quality Directive as an effective instrument of environmental protection litigation.

Satellite-based assessment of national carbon monoxide concentrations for air quality reporting in Finland

Carbon monoxide (CO) has negative health effects, especially on the respiratory system, when present in large concentrations in ambient air. Therefore, it is one of the 12 air pollutants with monitoring and assessment obligations set by the European Union Ambient Air Quality Directives. With low CO concentrations in Finland, continuous surface measurements are not compulsory but the monitoring and assessment obligation remains. Currently, there are no air quality stations equipped with CO measurements in Finland, and the assessment can only be based on emission estimates.In this work, we demonstrate the use of satellite-based CO measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on-board Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite (S5P) to strengthen the assessment with actual measurements. Averaging satellite measurements over several years reveals the spatial distribution of CO with nationwide coverage in city-scale resolution. Individual satellite measurements, in turn, are used to estimate the surface concentrations and their annual variability in different regions in Finland.For the surface estimates, we used a simple and robust linear model between the satellite measurements and ground-level in-situ measurements. We found that the linear model produces reasonable surface concentration estimates to be used in air quality assessments where the objective is to evaluate whether the monitoring threshold set by the EU is exceeded on a yearly scale. It is noted that cloudiness can cause local data gaps of several days and the low solar elevation angles prevent satellite measurements from 9 to 18 weeks during the winter time in Finland.In Finland, the average total columns show low spatial variability, with only a few high-concentration areas identified. For the last three years, the estimated surface concentrations have stayed well below the lower assessment threshold set by the Air Quality Directive.

Air pollution costs in Western Balkans’ cities

Abstract Poor air quality is responsible for increased risk of mortality which global cost in in 2019 was associated with 4.1 million premature deaths globally. The Western Balkans were selected for this study because the levels of particulate matter and ozone are frequently above the EU Air Quality Directive guidelines. Air pollution health impact (mortality and morbidity) assessment was carried out using the attributable fraction approach based on different relative risk attribution methodologies: concentration response functions (CRF) and integrated exposure responses (IER). Air pollution costs were estimated using the value of statistical life (VSL) and the value of life year (VOLY) attributable to air pollution obtained with the benefit transfer method (BT) from a global database of non-market welfare-based unit costs. The health impact and related external costs attributable to air pollution in 2019 were assessed in 30 urban areas of the Western Balkans region, one of Europe's air pollution hot spots. The evaluation was based on PM2.5, O3 and NO2 concentrations in 2019. The average cost of mortality attributable to PM2.5 in 26 urban areas was above 200 million Euro per city while the ones of O3 and NO2 were 4 times lower than PM2.5. The study results suggest that the economic burden of air pollution per capita and compared to the GDP in the Western Balkans is higher than the one observed in EU27 in the same time window.

PM2.5 Air Quality Monitoring during COVID-19 Restrictions in Portugal: Key Findings

Abstract Background Particulate matter with or less 2.5 diameters (PM2.5) has deleterious health effects on humans. In 2020, exposure to levels of PM2.5 above World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO AQG) caused 238,000 and 2,600 premature deaths in the European Union and Portugal, respectively. During the lockdowns and restrictions periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic, air quality was improved. The aim of this study was to assess the variation of PM2.5 concentrations in Portugal during the years 2020 and 2021, considering COVID-19 restrictions. Methods The daily average (24-hour) concentrations of PM2.5 were calculated based on the hourly values registered at the monitoring stations (Online Database on Air Quality of the Portuguese Environment Agency). Friedman tests were used for paired samples to assess differences between levels of PM2.5 in the months of total lockdown, partial restriction due to the COVID-19 pandemic and months without restrictions, considering a level of significance of 5%. Results The levels of PM2.5 had heterogeneous variation over the months of the two years. The higher levels of PM2.5 in 2020 and 2021 were 21 and 34 µg/m3 in March and February, respectively. Although 2020 did not exceed the EU Air Quality Directive 2008/50 (25 µg/m3), the levels of PM2.5 exceeded the current WHO Guideline (5 µg/m3) during the whole year. Levels of PM2.5 were statistically significant different between the months of lockdown, partial restrictions and without restrictions in the both years (p < 0,001). Conclusions Despite the evidence showing that the lockdown and restrictions due to COVID-19 minimized emissions from anthropogenic activities mainly related with mobility, Portugal still exceeded the WHO AQG highlighting the need for further measures to improve air quality accordingly with the international standards. Acknowledgments This work is funded by FCT/MCTES through national funds to PMCardImpact (EXPL/SAU-PUB/0944/2021). Key messages • Additional environmental policies are required to improve air quality in Portugal. • Air monitoring is the first step to estimate the health impact of air pollution.

The potential of high temporal resolution automatic measurements of PM2.5 composition as an alternative to the filter-based manual method used in routine monitoring

Under the EU Air Quality Directive (AQD) 2008/50/EC member states are required to undertake routine monitoring of PM2.5 composition at background stations. The AQD states for PM2.5 speciation this should include at least: nitrate (NO3−), sulfate (SO42−), chloride (Cl−), ammonium (NH4+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC). Until 2017, it was the responsibility of each country to determine the methodology used to report the composition for the inorganic components of PM2.5. In August 2017 a European standard method of measurement of PM2.5 inorganic chemical components (NO3−, SO42−, Cl−, NH4+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) as deposited on filters (EN16913:2017) was published. From August 2019 this then became the European standard method. This filter method is labour-intensive and provides limited time resolution and is prone to losses of volatile compounds. There is therefore increasing interest in the use of alternative automated methods. For example, the UK reports hourly PM2.5 chemical composition using the Monitor for AeRosols and Gases in Ambient air (MARGA, Metrohm, NL). This study is a pre-assessment review of available data to demonstrate if or to what extent equivalence is possible using either the MARGA or other available automatic methods, including the Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM, Aerodyne Research Inc. US) and the Ambient Ion Monitor (AIM, URG, US).To demonstrate equivalence three objectives were to be met. The first two objectives focused on data capture and were met by all three instruments. The third objective was to have less than a 50% expanded uncertainty compared to the reference method for each species. Analysis of this objective was carried out using existing paired datasets available from different regions around the world. It was found that the MARGA (2006–2019 model) had the potential to demonstrate equivalence for all species in the standard, though it was only through a combination of case studies that it passed uncertainty criteria. The ACSM has the potential to demonstrate equivalence for NH4+, SO42−, and in some conditions NO3−, but did not for Cl− due to its inability to quantify refractory aerosol such as sea salt. The AIM has the potential for NH4+, NO3−, SO42−, Cl− and Mg2+. Future investigations are required to determine if the AIM could be optimised to meet the expanded uncertainty criterion for Na+, K+ and Ca2+.The recommendation is that a second stage to demonstrate equivalence is required which would include both laboratory and field studies of the three candidate methods and any other technologies identified with the potential to report the required species.

Revised EU and WHO air quality thresholds: Where does Europe stand?

One year after the new WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines were published, the European Commission proposed revisions to the Ambient Air Quality Directives, seeking to align European Union air quality standards more closely with WHO recommendations. Here, we employed Bayesian geostatistical regression models to estimate at 1km2 spatial resolution the number of Europeans that would be currently exposed to levels above the new suggested thresholds for the three most harmful pollutants, namely PM2.5, PM10, and NO2. The results have shown that in 2021, 97.6% (95% credible interval: 95.1, 99.2%) of the total European population was exposed to PM2.5 levels exceeding the new WHO annual limit values, while 47.5% (36.2, 59.5%) lived in areas where the revised EU thresholds were exceeded. For PM10, the proportion of people exposed to concentrations above the WHO annual thresholds was estimated at 62.5% (54.0, 70.9%) and at 29.6 (21.9, 37.0%) above the EU values, whereas for NO2, the estimates were at 67.4% (57.9, 75.8%) and 20.2% (13.3, 28.5%), respectively. Our high-resolution model-based predictions are readily available to support policy makers and scientists working toward achieving the ambitious European zero-pollution vision for 2050.

Assessing the impacts and feasibility of emissions reduction scenarios in the Po Valley

This study is focused on a pivotal objective: enhancing air quality and attaining pollutant concentrations in accordance with WHO guidelines. The study extensively evaluates the feasibility of reducing emissions, specifically targeting an 80% decrease in SOX, NOX, PM, NH3, and NMVOC emissions within a limited timeframe. Despite notable emission curtailments of 50% and 80%, the research reveals that recommended pollutant levels are unlikely to be met across most areas of the Po Valley region. Even when implementing the finest available technologies across various sectors, particularly within the Lombardia region, this goal remains unattainable without simultaneous reductions in activity levels. This involves diminishing factors like vehicle miles traveled, energy consumption for heating, and industrial, agricultural, and livestock production. Overall, achieving improved conforming to the new AQG limits is a multifaceted endeavor involving numerous stakeholders and diverse strategies. Successful adherence to Air Quality limits mandates the implementation of Source-Specific emissions standards at the EU level, alignment of the National Emission Reduction Directive with limits specified in the Air Quality Directive, and the formulation of comprehensive Air Quality Plans at national, regional, and local tiers.

Health protection and climate change require ambitious limit values for air pollutants in Europe : Opinion on the revision of the Directive on Air Quality and Clean Air for Europe of the Environmental Public Health commission of the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Environment Agency

Based on scientific findings, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended stricter guideline values for air quality in 2021. Significant reductions in the annual mean values of particulate matter (particle size 2.5 µm or smaller, PM2.5) and long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) were put forward. The risk of mortality already increases above the WHO guideline values, as shown in studies investigating low concentrations of air pollutants. In Germany, the 2021 WHO guideline values for PM2.5 and NO2 were clearly exceeded in 2022.In this position paper we give the following recommendations for the European Air Quality Directive: (1)set binding limit values according to WHO 2021, (2)apply the limit values to the whole of Europe, (3)continue and expand the established country-based monitoring networks, (4)expand air quality measurements for ultrafine particles and soot particles, and (5)link air pollution control and climate protection measures.Stricter limits for air pollutants require societal and political changes in areas such as mobility, energy use and generation, and urban and spatial planning. Implementation according to WHO 2021 would lead to anet economic benefit of 38billion euros per year.Ambitious limit values for air pollutants also have an impact on climate change mitigation and its health impacts. The Environmental Public Health commission concludes that more ambitious limit values are crucial to enable effective health protection in Germany and calls for air pollutant limit values in line with the 2021 WHO recommendations to become binding in Europe.

State liability for health damage caused by excessive air pollution: Constitutinal and Private Law aspects

Air pollution severely damages human health and causes premature deaths. In order to fight against it, the European Commission initiated a revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives aiming to improve the quality of outdoor air and to reach the Zero Pollution goal. However, the CJEU is already facing requests for a preliminary ruling dealing with state liability for health damage caused by excessive air pollution. The old common law maxim <The King does no wrong= according to which a citizen may not seek redress from the government for wrongs committedmby the latter has long been surpassed. The institution of state liability is thus a widely recognised concept. The paper analyses the main features of state liability for health damage caused by polluted air and its boundaries. It focuses on the recent development of EU law in this regard and the established case law of the ECtHR. Since the right to a healthy living environment is recognised by several constitutions across the world, including Slovenia, the paper deals also with the Slovenian case law on state liability for damages caused by air and noise pollution from road and rail transport.

한국과 유럽연합의 미세먼지 대응에 관한 비교법적 연구

Entering the 21st century, the whole world is paying much attention to environmental issues. In the past, environmental problems were regarded as national laws and policies or subjects of discussion by experts, but as the general public gradually began to feel environmental problems, it became a problem for all levels of the world to seek solutions. As a representative example, disasters such as floods and droughts have occurred all over the world due to the impact of the climate crisis, and many people are suffering damage, which also affects crops and fruit yields, resulting in economic problems. In Korea, record- breaking heavy rains fell in 2022, and as many people began to suffer damage, it became an opportunity to have a lot of interest in environmental issues. Another problem is that of fine dust. Fine dust refers to extremely small particles floating in the air in a solid or liquid state. Fine dust originally began to be managed comprehensively as one of the elements of air quality pollution. It began to be separately regulated and managed through the Special Act on Dust Reduction and Management”. Fine dust meant particles of 10 μm or less, but since the smaller the fine dust, the greater the damage, the ultra-fine dust of 2.5 μm or less was separately defined and started to be managed. Fine dust was also a field that was not of great interest unless those involved were involved, but around 2018, many articles on the effect of fine dust were published, and poor air quality was observed every day, The general public has come to regard fine dust as a serious problem. As a result, the demand for air purifiers among home appliances continues to rise due to the influence of fine dust, and interest in KF masks has also increased due to the corona crisis. In Korea, fine dust is managed through so-called ‘Eight Fine Dust Acts’. They are the ｢Special Act on the Reduction and Management of Fine Dust｣, ｢Indoor Air Quality Control Act｣, ｢Special Act On The Improvement Of Air Quality In Air Control Zones｣, ｢Clean Air Conservation Act｣, ｢School Health Act｣, ｢Framework Act On The Management Of Disasters And Safety｣, ｢Safety Control And Business Of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act｣, ｢Special Act On The Improvement Of Air Quality In Port Areas｣ However, due to the nature of fine dust spreading through the air, it is difficult to say that it is a problem unique to one country and must be resolved through international cooperation. In consideration of this point, matters regarding international cooperation have been added to fine dust-related laws in Korea, but this is still a matter that requires further discussion. In the European Union, there are laws related to fine dust such as ｢European Climate Act｣, European Green Deal, National Emission Ceiling Directive, Ambient Air Quality Directive, Clean Air Policy Package for Europe, Directive on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe. The European Union manages fine dust through these air quality guidelines. The European Union has legal characteristics that can manage a wide scale due to its structure, and countries outside the EU are also integrated through the ‘Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution’. Considering the characteristics of the fine dust problem that occurs over a wide range, Korea also needs to consider the characteristics of the European Union's EU-scale guidelines and matters related to international agreements.

Clean air in Europe for all: A call for more ambitious action.

Clean air in Europe for all: A call for more ambitious action.

Facing the challenges of air quality and health in a future climate: The Aveiro Region case study

Air pollution and climate change are the most important environmental issues for European citizens. Despite the air quality improvements achieved in recent years, with most pollutants' concentrations below the European Union legislated values, it is necessary to understand whether this will continue in the future due to expected climate changes impacts. In this context, this work tries to answer two main questions: (i) What is the relative contribution of emission source regions/activities to air quality, now and in the future, considering a climate change scenario?; and (ii) What additional policies are needed to support win-win strategies for air quality and climate mitigation and/or adaptation, at urban scale? For that, a climate and air quality modelling system, with source apportionment tools, was applied to the Aveiro Region, in Portugal. Main results show that in the future, due to the implementation of carbon neutrality measures, air quality in the Aveiro Region may improve, with reduction up to 4 μg.m−3 for particulate matter (PM) concentrations and 22 μg.m−3 for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and consequently, the premature deaths due to air pollution exposure will also decrease. The expected air quality improvement will ensure that, in the future, the limit values of the European Union (EU) Air Quality Directive will not be exceeded, but the same will not happen if the proposed revision of the EU Air Quality Directive is approved. Results also shown that, in the future, industrial sector will be the one with higher relative contribution for PM concentrations and the second one for NO2. For that sector, additional emission abatement measures were tested, showing that, in the future, it is possible to comply with all the new limit values proposed by the EU.

Ambiente e Salute News n.18 - novembre-dicembre 2022

Environment and health We are too slow in health protection actions from air pollution; this is the premise of Legambiente' s annual report Mal'aria di città 2023. This report highlights how air pollution is decreasing too slowly, putting the health of Italian citizens at risk with critical issues for some cities related to the days of exceeding the daily limit for PM10. Considering that attention should also be put to the level of other pollutants like such as those of PM2.5 and NO2. WHO has reported recent scientific evidence on the limits of concentrations not to be exceeded, and the European Air Quality Directive proposes downward limits (20 μg/mc) that should be complied with from January 2030 and that are to be considered an intermediate step from the WHO indications (15μg/mc). So there are 7 years to comply, but despite the mitigation actions put in place and tangible emission reductions, there has been no steady decline in air pollutant concentrations in virtually any city; in fact, the average rate of reduction in concentrations nationwide is only 2% for PM10 and 3% for NO2, too slow to reach the target set by the European directive for 2030. Polluted air is still being breathed for too long. As in previous issues, the main articles published in the monitored journals are summarized here, among which numerous are precisely those related to air pollution. All articles and editorials deemed worthy of attention are listed divided by topic, with a brief commentary. This issue is based on systematic monitoring of the publications of November and December 2022.

Just translation? A socioecological justice lens on EU environmental governance and urban mobility transitions

EU environmental policies such as the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50 are highly relevant in this age of the looming climate crisis and interconnected sustainable transitions. However, implementation efforts such as low-emission zones, road pricing, and driving bans affect citizens in heterogenous situations and in ways that evoke questions of socioecological justice. This has resulted in an increasingly polarized reluctance to respective governance across Europe. The EU policy implementation literature often omits these less clearly operationalized norms that EU policies transport and pays little attention to how stakeholders in cities discursively and practically translate EU directives. Constructivist norm research underlines the importance of ‘localizing’ by highlighting that justice does matter for norm translation. The environmental justice concept has, however, not been systematically introduced and referenced in the norm research literature. This article offers a heuristic to address this research gap by combining a translation perspective from International Relations norm research with an environmental justice lens. Following the journey of the Air Quality Directive 2008/50, we ask how urban implementation configures the Directive’s environmental justice dimension and why this is important for effective and sustainable EU governance. Empirically, we focus on action plans and participation processes regarding Directive 2008/50 in Brussels, Glasgow, and Hamburg. As a result, we show that EU environmental governance unfolds at the local level as a dynamic contestation of different distributive justice claims that then translate into concrete policies. The analysis indicates that those policies must procedurally integrate local knowledge and identity formation to enable comprehensively just sustainable transformations.

Exposure to PM2.5 and cardiovascular diseases in Portugal – the contribute of PMCardImpact project

Abstract Particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) are one of the air pollutants more detrimental to human health, being responsible for around 400 000 premature deaths in Europe every year. The cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and air pollution are linked, with existing evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to particulate matter and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Under the scope of PMCardImpact, a national funded project, data collected from Portuguese air monitoring platform (2005-2021) (>60 stations) was used to estimate the attributable number of cases of acute myocardial infarction. The air monitoring data and parameters such as exposure-response factors will support the risk assessment in AirQ+ software (WHO Regional Office for Europe). Preliminary results showed that exceedances of Air Quality Directive in Portugal ranged between 0.1 % and 10.2% for PM10 and PM2.5 in 2019. Results obtained will include the number of cases of CVD attributable to exposure to PM2.5 in the Portuguese population. Four scenarios of exposure will be considered for presenting the results: current scenario of exposure, new WHO Air Quality guidelines, European Commission Air Quality Directive and lastly, a worst-case scenario. This assessment will be the starting point for calculation of the burden of disease of CVD that exposure to PM2.5 represent in Portugal. With a view to promote the science to policy interface, PMCardImpact project will make available to policy makers the needed supporting information to act, including actionable knowledge on air pollution trends and related health effects, to implement reducing air pollution policies. This work is funded by FCT/MCTES through national funds to PMCardImpact (EXPL/SAU-PUB/0944/2021) and CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020 + LA/P/0094/2020). Key messages • PMCardImpact will make available to policy makers the needed supporting information to act to implement reducing air pollution policies. • Risk assessment will allow to determine the number of CVD cases attributable to air pollution.

3.E. Workshop: Is (Planetary) health a priority in international deals?

Abstract This workshop is dedicated to different types of deals/arrangements relating environmental health to planetary health, healthy energy, arrangements linking science to actions, and statement given by experts to recognise health in ambitious initiatives toward zero pollution. By presentations about planetary health education, it will underline the role of training as a cornerstone for international sustainable public health deals. The Lancet Public Health underlines: “No public health without planetary health”, the future health of the planet and human health are inextricably linked. Planetary health should be part of all global, national but also regional and local deals to improve sustainability worldwide. Further research and applications of the public health (PH) Education Framework are needed in order to increase evidence and awareness in PH and strengthen PH collaboration in Europe and beyond. Workshop will also discuss the European response and transformation towards healthy energy, as a part of many agreements/deals, especially European Green Deal. Science and the accelerating scale of environmental degradation tells us we have to be more ambitious and strive to zero pollution. Health-based approach can be the overarching principle to deliver on these ambitions. For a healthy planet for healthy people we need to have more determined action plans that will deliver on zero pollution and have a sound health-based approach. To achieve better public health, false solutions to the current energy, unsustainable and polluting energy crisis, is to go ambitiously for zero-pollution solutions. Looking for a strong argument for Clean air deals, the researchers will present their preliminary results of costs of air pollution impact on health in the Western Balkans (WB). It is well documented that poor air quality is responsible for increased risk of mortality and morbidity. The WB region was selected for this study because it is one of the air pollution hotspots in Europe where the levels of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and O3 are frequently above the EU Air Quality Directive guidelines. Air pollution impact on health has a relatively higher economic burden in the WB compared to EU27 due to both the higher pollution levels and the lower per capita GDP. The external costs of air pollution is a strong argument to consider health as a priority in every policy area at national level as well as international agreements. Furthermore workshop will also present an initiative regarding health experts’ voice for Healthier Choice - a call for Zero Air Pollution in the WB. Health experts in the WB have joined forces to highlight the importance of air quality actions and achieving zero air pollution as a prevention intervention for public health. Health experts highlight that in Green Agenda for the WB the most needed are clear goals of achieving zero pollution and a timeline in the near future. Key messages • Planetary health should be part of all global, national but also regional and local deals to improve sustainability worldwide. • The external costs of air pollution is a strong argument to consider health as a priority in every policy area at national level as well as international agreements.