European politicians ‘have a moral obligation’ to tackle air pollutionWe need to remind people that any time you breathe, you are breathing something toxic into your body.”
European politicians have “a clear and absolute moral responsibility” to tackle chronic levels of air pollution on the continent as toxic air is taking a toll on people’s health. This is according to Maria Neira, director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.
“As a medical doctor, I cannot resist the temptation to remind people that this is about strokes, this is about heart disease, this is about asthma, this is about lung cancer, diabetes, low birth weight, preterm births, cognitive decline,” Neira“We need to remind people that any time you breathe, you are breathing something toxic into your body which is having a devastating impact,” she stressed.
Her call came after it was revealed that practically all Europeans, or 98%, live in areas where the WHO’s guidelines for PM2.5 pollution are regularly exceeded. This is very concerning as toxic air causes around 400,000 deaths a year while exposure to it also triggers or worsens a myriad of health conditions from asthma to Alzheimer’s disease.
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