Air pollution is the single most significant environmental health risk in the European Union, causing chronic disease and premature mortality. Some 300 000 premature deaths are caused by fine particulate matter annually in the EU, and the annual economic cost of air pollution is at least €330 billion. Industrial plants are a significant source of air pollution, releasing a wide range of harmful pollutants that can seriously impact on human health and the environment. While previous research has examined the health effects of individual air pollutants, there is a growing need to investigate the health consequences of prolonged exposure and exposure to multiple pollutants, as may occur in locations close to industrial plants. While the EU has implemented a range of initiatives to control and reduce air pollutants from industrial plants, a comprehensive review of available scientific information on the levels of existing air pollutants and their health impacts in the EU is still largely missing. This study investigates the impact of prolonged exposure to multiple air pollutants on EU citizens' health, with a particular focus on geographical areas with large industrial plants that have a history of air pollution, such as the Ruhr valley in Germany and Taranto in Italy. The study proposes policy options for measures to monitor and regulate industrial emissions, particularly in sites with multiple pollutants, that would inform EU standards and could mitigate the identified adverse impacts on human health.
Authors
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, European Parliament, Forastiere, Francesco, Bisceglia, Lucia, Giua, Roberto, Hoffmann, Barbara
- Catalogue number
- QA-02-24-384-EN-N
- Citation
- European Parliament, Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, Forastiere, F., Bisceglia, L., Giua, R. et al., Health consequences of prolonged exposure to multiple industrial air pollutants , European Parliament, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/708920
- DOI
- https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/708920
- ISBN
- 978-92-848-1710-8
- Pages
- 139
- Published in
- Belgium
- Themes
- Environmental research , Public health
Table of Contents
- Cover_final 1
- EPRS_STOA_STUD_757793_Industrial_air_pollution_main 3
- 1. Introduction 17
- Figure 1 – Systems and organs that can be affected by air pollutants 19
- Table 1 – Causality determinations on the long- and short-term effects of air pollutants for different disease categories 18
- 2. Aims of the study 21
- 3. Methodology 22
- 3.1. Consultation of the EEA portal and EEA reports 22
- 3.2. Consultation of the relevant references on industrial pollution in the EU as part of the total air pollution 24
- 3.3. Review of epidemiological studies of health effects of industrial pollution: methods and assessment of the evidence 26
- 3.4. Review of epidemiological studies of health effects of industrial pollution in the Ruhr and Taranto areas 28
- 4. Results 29
- 4.1. Large industrial installations in the EU 29
- Figure 2 - The 107 facilities that together account for 50 % of the aggregate damage costs estimated from main air pollutants (2021) 30
- Figure 3 - External costs by country aggregated over all pollutants (2021) 30
- 4.2. Air pollution from industry: a large-scale problem 32
- Figure 4 - Contribution of the industrial sector to the PM2.5 urban background concentration 32
- Figure 5 - Contribution of the agricultural sector to the PM2.5 urban background concentration 33
- 4.3. The local contamination from the industry 34
- Figure 6 - Exposure assessment methods in environmental epidemiology 35
- 4.4. Review of epidemiological studies of health effects of industrial pollution: results of the evidence 36
- Figure 7 - PRISMA flowchart used in this review from identification to eligibility for the selection of articles to be included 36
- Figure 8 - Frequency distribution of the main characteristics of the original studies (n. 89) selected in the review 38
- 4.4.1 Discussion 40
- 4.5 Case study: industrial pollution in the Ruhr region of Germany. Contamination, health effects, solutions 41
- 4.5.1 Introduction 41
- 4.5.2 Epidemiological studies 42
- Figure 9 - Residence-based spatial distribution of PM10 concentrations from EURAD-CTM, local industry-specific air pollution in the year 2001 43
- Figure 10 - Chronic air pollution exposure on percentage changes in FeNO levels (fractional exhaled nitric oxide, a marker of pulmonary inflammation) with their corresponding 95 % confidence intervals in the different age groups 44
- Figure 11 - Association between long-term PM10 exposure (five-year mean) and COPD 45
- Figure 12 - Association of short-term exposure towards air pollutants and temperature and increase in apnea-hypopnea index, a measure of breathing difficulties during sleep 46
- Figure 13 - Effect estimates (95 % CI = confidence intervals) of baseline total air pollution exposure on risk of stroke 46
- Figure 14 - Adjusted ORs (and 95 % Cls) for a high CAC score stratified according to employment status 47
- Figure 15 - Association (adjusted mean differences) between mild cognitive impairment of 396 elderly women and long-term traffic exposure indicated by the distance of the residential address to the next busy street with more than 10,000 cars per day 48
- Table 2 - Results from random-effects meta-analyses for the adjusted association between natural cause mortality and exposure to PM2.5 below various threshold values 49
- Figure 16 - Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) between natural-cause mortality and a 200-ng/m3 increment in PM2.5 sulphur 50
- Figure 17 - Meta-analytical concentration-response functions of the association between air pollutants and non-accidental mortality 51
- Figure 18 - Hazard ratio in relation to PM2.5 / source-specific fine particles 51
- 4.5.3 Solutions and the legacy of the industrialization 52
- Figure 19 - Primary energy use according to energy source in 1990 and 2022 (Germany) 52
- Figure 20 - Choice of transportation in percent, in order of appearance in the Ruhr area 2012 and 2019, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Germany (both 2019) 53
- Figure 21 - SO2-Emissions in kilo tons in Germany sorted by source-categories. 54
- Figure 22 - Air Quality Monitoring Stations in the Federal State North Rhine-Westphalia 55
- Figure 23 - Extraction of energy resources within the state borders of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1990 to 2020 56
- 4.6 Case study: industrial pollution in the Taranto area of Italy. Contamination, health effects, solutions 57
- 4.6.1 Introduction 57
- Figure 24 - Taranto, Italy: neighbourhoods and main plants in the industrial area 57
- 4.6.2 Epidemiological studies 59
- Figure 25 - Measured PCDD/Fs concentrations in Taranto sinter stack flow 60
- Figure 26 - Trends in coke, agglomerate and steel production in the Taranto steel industry 2007-2022 61
- Figure 27 – Taranto Steel Plant: Air Emissions of PM10 by year 61
- Figure 28 - Study area and population of the cohort study together with the results of the dispersion model for PM10 originating from the steel plant performed by the Regional Protection Agency (ARPA) 63
- Figure 29 - Association between average exposures to PM10 of industrial origin and cause-specific mortality in Taranto 64
- Figure 30 - Changes in population-weighted exposure to PM10 in three areas (at different distances from the steel plant) and changes in mortality rates in the corresponding three areas 65
- Figure 31 - Average annual PM10 concentration (µg/m3) produced by emissions from the former ILVA plant in Taranto in three scenarios: 2010, 2012, and 2016 66
- 4.6.3 Solutions and the legacy of the industrialization 66
- 5. Conclusions and lessons learned 69
- 6. Policy options 71
- References 77
- EPRS_STOA_ANNEX_757793_Industrial_air_pollution_final (1) 93
- Table of contents 95
- 1. Methods 96
- 1.1. PECOS 96
- 1.2. Eligibility and exclusion criteria 96
- 1.3. Study selection 97
- 1.4. Data extraction and management 97
- 1.4.1. Search string for the literature review. 98
- 2. Results 99
- 2.1. Strength of the evidence by industry type 99
- 3. References 112
- Appendix: Detailed tables of the narrative review of the epidemiological studies 121
- Blank Page 2
- Blank Page 92
