Stronger air pollution laws could save 37,000 lives a year in EU

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution and household air pollution is associated with seven million premature deaths annually, with around 1,500 deaths in Ireland annually attributed to air pollution. Picture: Padraig Hoare

Up to 37,000 lives and €103bn in taxpayer money could be saved every year across Europe if the EU tightened rules around air quality and industry emissions, a new report has found.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said the EU has allowed its industrial pollution rules to be "eroded through the adoption of weak standards, loopholes, and a permitting culture that only enforces the most lenient limits" when it comes to emissions from the sector.