Paris Mayor Celebrates 40% Less Traffic and Pollution

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo yesterday celebrated the French capital’s achievement in reducing traffic and pollution by 40% in 10 years.

In her Tweet, she said that she hadn’t finished yet, and linked to a France TV Info article about air pollution.

The article reports on a study by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). The study shows that particulate emissions represent the biggest threat to public health in the world – bigger than smoking and alcohol.

Air pollution increases the risk of diseases, including pulmonary heart disease, stroke and cancer.

If particulates were permanently reduced to the WHO recommended maximum levels, life expectancy worldwide would increase by 2.3 years, according to the EPIC study. By comparison, smoking reduces life expectancy by 2.3 years.

Funds allocated to the battle against air pollution are a tiny fraction of those spent on infectious diseases.