At least 16,000 people die prematurely because of pollution in Spain, according to estimates by the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM). This figure is seven times that of deaths in traffic accidents in 2010. In the whole European Union (EU), the figure rises to 370,000 deaths due to poor air quality. Children, the elderly and the chronically ill or with cardiac pathology are the most vulnerable to this environmental problem.
"The scientific community has no doubt about the harmful effects of pollution on respiratory health and agrees on the need to reduce urban pollution," said Cristina Martinez, coordinator of the environmental area of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR).
"Breathing clean air is a right of all people," said Juan Ruiz Manzano, chairman of the SEPAR. The gases emitted from exhaust pipes of traffic and industrial areas or energy production are the major causes of this environmental health problem.
Another European study, including Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Seville and Valencia, reveals that levels of these particles suspended in air pollutants (less than 2.5 microns) were reduced to 20 particles / microgram per cubic meter each city would prevent 11,375 premature deaths, ie 8,053 deaths from cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer 1296.
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