Beating chronic respiratory disease: the role of Europe’s environment

This report provides information about the environmental determinants of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) to support EU policy responses. It is based on data compiled by the EEA and supports the European Green Deal, as well as EU action against pollution, climate change, occupational risks and tobacco.

Key messages

• Environmental risk factors are estimated to cause over a third of premature chronic respiratory disease-related deaths (i.e. close to 80,000) in Europe — almost as many as the chronic respiratory disease deaths from smoking and other behavioural risk factors.
• These premature deaths and a significant part of the burden of disease from these illnesses can be prevented by reducing pollution, addressing energy poverty and adapting to climate change.
• Key environmental risk factors for chronic respiratory disease in Europe include air pollution (14% of CRD deaths), extreme temperatures (over 11%), occupational exposure (8%), second-hand smoke (3%), as well as mould, wildfire smoke and allergenic pollens.
• Exposure to many of these environmental factors — and chronic respiratory diseases themselves — is aggravated by climate change.
• Chronic respiratory disease cases tend to reflect past exposure, so decreasing exposure to environmental risk factors will take years to translate into less cases of respiratory disease.