The Department of Ecology has unveiled the results of the 2008 air quality in France. Overall, the results are poor even with worrying levels of air pollution still high and even increased since early 2009.

Chantal Jouanno, Secretary of State for Ecology and Philippe Van de Maele, President of ADEME revealed yesterday the balance of 2008 and the first observations in 2009 on air quality. Governments recall that a target of 30% reduction in 2015 levels of fine particles in air has been adopted as part of the Grenelle Environment.

To achieve this objective, a second National Health and Environment was presented to Cabinet on 24 June. Within this objective, the department of ecology, energy, sustainable development and marine and ADEME coordinate and fund the development of monitoring of particulate matter by 33 Association Agreement (AASQA) through automatic sensors to 2200 on over 750 stations in France.

This is to implement actions to support the reduction of particulate emissions in the energy, transport, construction and housing. ADEME shall ensure in particular the inclusion of these reductions in 'fuelwood.

According to the results revealed yesterday, "levels of pollution in 2008 are in continuity with the observations of previous years, most of the regulated pollutants, with a trend for sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and benzene, and a stagnation or even a slight increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in rural sites. For ozone, the summer of 2008 a little sunshine as promoted in 2007, concentrations lower than in previous years.

In the long term, despite the reduction of emissions of precursors of this pollutant, the background levels are higher than those found in the early 1990s. Furthermore, the year 2008 showed a slight decrease in concentrations of PM 10 (particulate matter in air) compared to 2007, which had a very high number of exceedances of limit values.

Poor in 2008 and 1st half of 2009 concern

If the results are bleak in 2008, those of 2009 could be frankly bad. Indeed, observations on the 1st half of 2009 suggest that the year could save overruns particles larger than 2008.

For inhalable particulates in the air two episodes of pollution have been observed over much of the month of January (with high concentrations, up to 4 times the daily limit), and several days in March and April . During the same period, notes for NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), exceeding the threshold of information on a few days. Finally an episode of ozone pollution took place between late June and early July.

ADEME said that the level of emissions leads to a reduction in life expectancy by 9.3 months in France. The plan provides a particle set of measures to decline in all sectors of human activity at national and institutional and local levels in the territories and homes. Wood combustion and transportation are major sources of particulate emission.

For indoor air, 3 major challenges are to increase according to the French agency. This is to set up a surveillance in places adjusted life ended and sensitive, such as schools and nurseries to find the balance between energy efficiency and indoor air quality, it need to break down enough to have fresh air in buildings but not in any way to limit energy consumption, and finally deploy the health and environmental labeling products of construction and decoration.

30 000 deaths each year in France

ADEME reminded that it is directly concerned by the issue of indoor air largely because of the actions for energy conservation and promoting renewable energy. Under the program PRIMEQUAL, ADEME and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, are involved in research and development to better understand the causes and effects of air pollution in closed places.

Of work in Europe have shown that the particles are responsible for more than 350 000 premature deaths per year in Europe. He meant by premature deaths, people dying on average 10 years earlier than their normal life expectancy if there had been no contamination of the air by the particles.

Overall, air pollution would cause more than 30 000 premature deaths per year each year in France (trilateral study conducted jointly in Austria, France and Switzerland in the program PRIMEQUAL / PREDIT). In France, 5% of annual deaths would be attributable to the particles.