Jet engines emit more ultrafine particle pollution than any other type of engine.
Thousands of cases of hypertension, diabetes and dementia across Europe could be linked to tiny particles emitted by airplanesaccording to a new study commissioned by campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E).
More than 10% of the population of the European Union (around 52 million people) lives within a 20 kilometer radius around 32 busiest airports on the Old Continent. This means that these people are especially exposed to the ultrafine particles, UFP, emitted by the airplane engines that take off and land there.
Some studies suggest that UFP may be related to greater disease risk respiratory, cardiovascular, with diabetes, with pregnancy problems and with neurological conditions.
The study extrapolates the reported cases of these diseases in the surroundings of Schiphol airport Amsterdam to provide the first estimates of the health effects of UFP in the European Union.
According to the study, exposure to these tiny particles of atmospheric pollution It may be associated with 280,000 cases of high blood pressure, 330,000 cases of diabetes and 18,000 cases of dementia in the EU.
Research on ultrafine air pollution is scarce
The impact of UFP is an understudied aspect of air pollution. Current research usually focuses on the health effects of PM2.5. That is, particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers. Ultrafine particles are those with a diameter less than 0.1 micrometers1,000 times thinner than a human hair.
They are much smaller and their ability to penetrate the human body could make them “very dangerous“, according to Carlos López de la Osa, technical director of aviation at T&E.
It is tiny particles They have already been found in the blood, brain and placenta. However, for now, there is not much definitive data about how they really affect our health.
“Research in this field is scarce and evidence of these effects They are not usually conclusive“says Daan van Seters, researcher and advisor at the consulting firm CE Delft, who carried out the research for T&E.
Are there standards for how much ultrafine pollution can be in the air?
According to T&E, there are no regulations that regulate safe levels of UFP in the air, despite the fact that the World Health Organization, WHO, identified it as a pollutant of emerging concern more than 15 years ago.
Jet engines emit more ultrafine particles than any other type of engine, as part of their emissions other than CO₂. This means that people who live or work near airports are the most exposed. In ParisFor example, there are a total of 8 million people affected by the two main airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly.
Living within a 5 kilometer radius of an airport can mean breathing air that contains, on average, between 3,000 and 10,000 ultrafine particles per cubic centimeter emitted by airplanes. This is approximately the same as what people who live in the center of cities with a lot of traffic.
Furthermore, areas with less income Many European cities are usually close to airports.
“This health crisis hides has been ignored by politicians, who have prioritized the growth of the aviation sector and the trips about the health of their own population, often the poorest,” says López de la Osa.
Can jet fuel be cleaned to prevent UFP contamination?
However, there are solutions. According to the study, using “better quality” fuel can reduce UFP by 70%. The amount of these tiny particles emitted depends largely on the fuel composition: the cleaner it is, the less air pollution is produced.
Fuels can be cleaned through a process called hydrotreating that has been used for decades to remove sulfur from fuel of cars and boats. It could cost less than five euro cents per liter of fuel.
“It is not often that a alarming problem that affects millions of people can be reduced, and at a low cost,” adds López de la Osa.
“The ‘dirty fumes’ caused by the airplanes They can be drastically reduced if we clean the fuel. The road and shipping sectors took this necessary step years ago, but the world of aviation has been dragging its feet“he concludes.
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