The Po Valley is the most polluted region in Western Europe says the European Environment Agency

The European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Union environmental monitoring body, recently published air quality data that indicates the Po Valley as the most polluted region in Western Europe. The situation is so bad that air pollutant levels pose a risk to human health, including the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and reduced life expectancy.

The survey claims that despite ongoing general improvements in air quality, air pollutant levels exceed EU thresholds across Europe and air pollution remains a major health concern for Europeans. Air pollution is especially harmful to children and teenagers, causing more than 1,200 premature deaths among under-18s every year in Europe.

The Po Valley is a densely populated region and is also highly industrialised, with the result that large quantities of pollutants are released into the atmosphere. Its geography and characteristic weather patterns exacerbate the problem: the Po Valley is effectively "boxed in" between the Alps and the Apennines, which is why winds are low and atmospheric stability is high; as a result, airborne pollutants do not disperse.

A 2021 ranking of the most polluted cities in Europe found that, in the category of centres with more than 50,000 inhabitants, the top ten Italian positions were occupied by urban developments in the Po Valley: Cremona came first, followed by Padua and Vicenza. A bald statistic in the overall European rankings is that only two cities – one in Poland and one in Croatia – have more air pollution than Cremona.

The EEA analysis of the Po Valley takes three pollutants into consideration. First of all there is ozone, one of the most dangerous substances for asthma sufferers. The Po Valley exceeds the European guideline limits for this gas. Then there is nitrogen dioxide, produced mainly by road vehicles and also considered to be carcinogenic.

The EEA analysis also took into account fine particulate matter (PM2.5), i.e., airborne solid and liquid substances in particles of up to half a millimetre in diameter. Human activity-generated fine particulate matter comes mainly from industry, fossil fuels used for road transport, and the burning of wood and coal. Fine particulate matter is one of the most impactful pollutants on people's health.

Despite a reduction in emissions in 2021, it is estimated that 97% of the European urban population has been exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter: the particles can gather in the airways and enter the circulatory system, which is why it is associated with respiratory infections, lung cancer and heart attacks.

As part of the European Green Deal Zero Pollution Action Plan, the European Commission has set a 2030 target for the number of premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter to be reduced by at least 55% compared to 2005 levels. To this end, the European Commission published a proposal for a 2022 review of ambient air quality directives to bring air quality standards more in line with WHO recommendations.