If you're in Central and Eastern Europe you're breathing the deadliest air

Air pollution is a deadly public health threat, but some parts of Europe are at much higher risk than others.

Air pollution is linked to lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases, stroke, poor birth outcomes, and more.

It’s particularly dangerous for older people, causing about 4 per cent of all deaths among adults ages 65 and older.

In 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) updated its air quality guidelines, lowering the recommended threshold for annual concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) such as dust, smoke, and soot from exhaust.

This month, stricter air quality rules came into force that aim to bring the European Union closer to WHO standards by 2030, and oblige member states to monitor pollutants like fine particulate matter, black carbon, and ammonia.

The plan is "one of the biggest public health interventions for a generation," Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health’s urban planning, environment, and health initiative, told Euronews Health.

Overall, exposure to PM2.5 caused about 239,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2021, while another 48,000 people died as a result of nitrogen dioxide exposure, according to the European Environment Agency.

Currently, all EU countries report nitrogen dioxide levels above WHO-recommended levels, but some are hit harder by air pollution than others.

North Macedonia suffers the most deaths from pollution, followed by Serbia. And neighbouring Albania, Bulgaria and Montenegro all have too high scores, according to a recent report from the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

"The biggest divide in Europe we see is east and west [and this] aligns very much with GDP