Air pollution levels have fallen up to 50% in many European cities, according to the latest figures published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). This significant decrease in air pollutant concentrations is  largely due to reduced traffic, especially in major cities under last lockdown measures. The COVID19 crisis has highlighted the direct connection of air pollution to mobility.

These days, some of the most polluted cities in Europe, such as Milan or Madrid, are waking up to clean and breathable skies. If air quality today is healthy, it is due to the strict lockdown regime implemented during the coronavirus crisis. Indeed, the EEA’s air quality monitoring stations link the drop in air pollution to reduced traffic in cities. The data from recent weeks revealed how concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant mainly emitted by road transport, have decreased in Italian and Spanish cities.

In Milan, one of the areas most affected by COVID19, the average concentration of NO2 for the past four weeks has decreased by at least 24% Pollution has also decreased by 47% in Bergamo, in the Lombardy region, and by 35 % in Rome. On the Iberian peninsula, NO2 levels fell by about 50% in Barcelona, Lisbon and Madrid from one week to the next. Ironically, the air quality indexes reach the healthiest levels precisely when the population of these cities cannot leave their homes to enjoy their parks and avenues.

The EEA data only confirms what the Copernicus Satellite first reported in China: a few days without traffic is enough to significantly increase air quality. Since other NO2 sources such as home heating or public transport have continued to operate, the sharp air pollution reduction seems to be mainly related to decreased road traffic. A quick shift in the mobility paradigm during the quarantine has been enough to solve the air pollution problems of entire regions.

This reduction happened under exceptional circumstances: all types of mobility have fallen. As the EEA’s executive director, Hans Bruyninckx, highlighted, “addressing long-term air quality problems requires ambitious policies and forward-looking investments”. ECF believes that these difficult times can also be useful to create awareness of the impact of private motorised vehicles on the environment and human health.

Many Europeans are discovering the potential of cycling these days since it´s the safest means of moving around the city. Indeed, cycling has become increasingly safe as the number of motorised vehicles on the road has been cut dramatically. Cycling also automatically keeps people at the social distance recommended by virologists. It is said that nothing will be the same after COVID19, can the EU then come back to a mobility model with such costs for European lives?

NO2 impact in times of COVID19

NO2 is a gas generated in high-temperature combustion reactions, mainly in motor vehicles. This gas affects humans in particular and can lead to adverse health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The latest EEA report on the health impact of air quality in Europe, with data for 2016, figures 72,000 premature deaths across the EU caused by NO2 pollution, three times the number of deaths by fatality accidents on the road. ECf has been working for years on air quality strategies through cycling, check out here our findings.

The EEA also noted that a number of health authorities have warned that those citizens with certain pre-existing conditions, such as respiratory illnesses, may have an increased vulnerability to COVID-19.  However, at present, it is not clear whether ongoing exposure to air pollution might worsen the condition of those infected by the virus. Further epidemiological research is needed to address such questions.