Air pollution is a serious health risk – but how should we assess it?

Air pollution is one of the world’s biggest environmental threats to human health. In recent years, research has increasingly shown that even low levels of pollutants like fine particles (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) can lead to serious diseases — from heart attacks and stroke to lung cancer and possibly even dementia and diabetes.

A new review led by researchers in the VALESOR project explores how this knowledge can be better used in policy and risk assessments. The study highlights the need for more consistent and transparent methods to estimate health risks and guide decision-making.

“Risk assessment plays a crucial role in turning research findings into action,” says Francesco Forastiere, lead author of the paper. “But we also need to make sure we’re using the right data in the right way – and that we’re capturing the full range of health effects.”

The authors emphasize the importance of concentration-response functions – tools that help quantify how much a certain pollutant increases the risk of disease. They argue for a structured scientific approach to choosing the appropriate concentration-response functions, especially when setting local air quality targets.

The review is part of the EU-funded VALESOR project, which supports better assessment of environmental stressors in Europe.

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