Updates from the Environment and Health Committee

The ERS Environment and Health Committee are continually working towards the objectives of the policy and activities, to advocate for environmental health, to promote clean air and protect human health. All activities are recorded, see the latest updates.

Joint letter calls for more ambitious actions towards healthy air in Europe

On 16 December the European Respiratory society (ERS) together with the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) shared a joint letter urging the European Union to align the newly proposed limit values with the WHO 2021 Air Quality Guidelines by 2030. Among other things, the organisations call for limit values of 5 and 10 µg/m3 for annual PM2.5 and NO(respectively) and to add a limit value for the long-term ozone concentration.

Read the letter in full.

Need for Updated Health Information in the Impact Assessment to inform the revision of the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives

On 9 March, 2022, members of this group, along with members of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, released a statement calling for the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives to be revised in light of updates to the health information in the impact assessment.

Read the statement in full

A proposal for sensitivity analyses of the health impacts of PM2.5 and NO2 in Europe

To estimate the potential benefit of air pollutant reductions adequately, health impact assessment (HIA) and cost-benefit analyses (CBA) need to include the latest and most relevant information on the relationships between air pollutants and health outcomes. Read this ERS and ISEE recommendation for inclusion of sensitivity analyses in the HIA and CBA.

Learn about the committee’s activities and view all publications

Read more