Cutting pollution ‘would save 19,000 lives a year’

CURBING air pollution in major European cities could save 19,000 lives per year, add almost two years to local life expectancy and save €31.5 billion in health costs and work absenteeism, an EU-funded study said on Wednesday.

The nearly three-year probe, called Aphekom, looked at 25 cities in 12 EU countries, encompassing nearly 39 million inhabitants.

Only Stockholm was below the threshold of fine particulate pollution of 10 micrograms per cubic metre recommended by the UN’s World Health Organisation, it found.