Europeans going on city breaks this summer have been told in which of the most popular cities they face the most dangerous pollution rates.
Many popular cities in Europe fail to make the World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality recommendations, so car rental experts at StressFreeCarRental.com have crunched the numbers to reveal which have the most dangerous levels of air pollution.
The data reveals that Milan has a PM2.5 concentration of 19.7, which is almost four times higher than the recommended level, making it the worst city for pollution in Europe.
The experts analysed the cities based on long-term average levels of fine particulate matter, which is the air pollutant with the highest impact on health, to find the 12 worst-ranking locations.
The current WHO health-based guidelines for air quality is a maximum level of 5 ug/m3 for fine particulate matter because both long and term exposure to anything above can harm health.
Milan, a tourist’s dream due to its fashion and design is dangerously above the recommended air quality limit.
The current guidelines rank the air quality from good when levels of fine particulate do not exceed 5ug/m3 to fair, moderate, poor and very poor, which are levels that exceed the European Union limit value of 25ug/m3.
Athens in Greece comes in second for the worst air quality, with levels at 13.6 ug/m3, closely followed by Prague in the Czech Republic at 12.7ug/m3.
Barcelona and Berlin are next, at 12.6ug/m3 and 12.2ug/m3, exceeding recommended WHO levels by double.
Paris, the city with the highest tourist rate comes in at seventh, closely following Rome in Italy, which has the second highest number of visitors. Their pollution rates both exceed 11ug/m3.
Brussels and Hamburg also have pollution levels over double the recommendations, with Amsterdam just below at 9.5ug/m3.
The lowest-ranking cities for pollution included in this study are Madrid, at 9.2 ug/m3 and Dublin, at 7.4ug/m3.
The data shows that every single city, which averages from 4 million international visitors to 19.1 million, exceeds the recommended health-based guidelines for air quality.
A spokesperson for StressFreeCarRental.com said: “Health-conscious holiday-makers planning to take a road trip this Summer take a look at our polluted cities guide before heading off.
“Milan in Italy is particularly bad for air pollution, over triple the recommended level, but even the city with the lowest level on the rankings, Dublin is above the safest level.
“It is very concerning to see that all of these European tourist hot spots have an air quality level exceeding the WHO guidelines, especially considering the long and short-term impact this can have on health.
“Families travelling with younger children, the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions like asthma should take extra precautions when exploring, such as keeping the car window closed when driving and going out earlier when air quality is better.
“It is also worth noting that air pollution levels tend to worsen in the summer when the weather is hot.”
For information on how to drive stress free in Europe’s major cities, please visit https://www.stressfreecarrental.com/
