
How better air could save tens of thousands of lives a year in UK | Air pollution | The Guardian
Studies show implementing WHO air guidelines would have drastic impact on health outcomes
Gary Fuller
Improving the air that we breathe is an opportunity for our politicians to save lives and for each of us to have better health.
In September the World Health Organization (WHO) revised its guidelines for air quality. Following this announcement, two studies have estimated the health benefits from implementing these guidelines across Europe.
The first study came from the European Environment Agency. It found at least 177,300 early deaths in 2019 could have been avoided if EU countries met the new WHO guidelines. The UK would have saved 17,200 people in 2019, representing nearly half of the 35,700 pollution-related deaths that year.