'A report released by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen, Denmark, has revealed that ambient air pollution still accounted for more than half a million premature deaths across Europe despite little improvements in the continent’s air quality. The recent report has shown that 520,400 premature deaths in 41 European countries have been caused by air pollutants stemming from fossil fuel use in 2014. The report adds that four out of five deaths are directly associated with fine particulate matter, which measures less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) and may readily enter a person’s respiratory tract and bloodstream.
According to the report, up to 82 percent of the continent’s urban population are exposed to PM2.5 in 2015 alone. Fine particulates are also associated with more than three out of four premature deaths within the 28 European Union members in 2014. Nitrogen dioxide emission and ground-level ozone have also been named primary culprits in the onset of premature death in the region. Air pollution from nicotine use has also raised the risk of dying from lung cancer, the experts have stated. Heart disease and stroke appear to be the most common conditions that lead to premature deaths, the scientists add.'
Read more: Air pollution killing thousands of Europeans every year, according to the EU’s environmental authority
