The negative effects of air pollution on health have been proven in countless scientific studies. (Photo: Jana Sönksen/Swiss TPH)
The debate on air quality standards for ambient air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and ozone has revived in Germany last week. The International Society for Environmental Epidemiology and the Environment and Health Committee of the European Respiratory Society have now issued a statement on the debate of the effects of air pollution on health. Swiss TPH has been conducting research in this field for decades and has contributed significantly to the statement. Last week, an assessment by a group of just over 100 lung physicians reopened a discussion on the health benefits of the current air quality standards. Under the leadership of the lung physician Dieter Köhler, the group claims that there is there is no scientific ground for these standards and that these pollutants do not affect health in Germany. They also claim that existing publications were biased and misinterpreted. The International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) and the Environment and Health Committee of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) now responded with a statement which strongly reject the allegation.
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