Brussels air pollution: Health organisations demand action

In an open letter to the Brussels regional government, a group of doctors and health organisations have asked for a more ambitious approach to the region's new Air Climate Energy Plan. Air pollution costs hundreds of lives in the region each year, according to the initiators. They are more specifically calling for a reduction in the amount of particulate matter and emissions from diesel vehicles, as well as the implementation of a 'safe distance zone' between busy roads and homes.

The doctors and medical organisations published the open letter on the website of De Morgen. Those who signed the letter include members of the Family Union, Doctors of the World, the Flemish Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Clean Air BXL, several doctors from UZ Brussel and KU Leuven, the Belgian Lung and Tuberculosis Association and the Brussels Environment Council (BRAL), among others.

"The Brussels-Capital Region is aware that additional efforts are needed to achieve European standards, and will therefore need to prepare a new action plan. Clean air is vital for the more than 1 million inhabitants of Brussels and the 350,000 commuters who work there," reads the letter.

But the bar is not set high enough, according to the initiators. “The Brussels government has set standards that are less stringent than the World Health Organization recommendations,” they say. “Concentrations of ultrafine particles (UFP) and diesel soot are extremely hazardous substances for human health, because they penetrate the lungs and blood stream.”

In Brussels, at least 632 people die prematurely each year due to health complications directly caused by air pollution, the initiators say.