Polluted air causes €18 billion health damage per year; Agriculture the biggest problem

In 2022, air pollution from Dutch soil caused 18 billion euros in health damage. Agriculture caused the most damage at 7.1 billion euros, Pointer reported after applying a research method from the European Environment Agency (EEA) to Dutch emission data of 15 harmful substances.

The agriculture sector - livestock farming, in particular - is the biggest source of health damage due to air pollution in the Netherlands. The cattle sector alone causes 3 billion euros in damage, mainly due to the large amount of ammonia emissions.

The traffic and transport sector, including inland vessels and mobile construction equipment, is the second largest source of air pollution-related health damage at 5.3 billion euros. Exhaust fumes from road traffic caused 2.4 billion euros of that damage.

Industry, energy, and refineries together caused 3.1 billion euros in damage. According to Pointer, the emissions of industrial pollution can clearly be linked to specific companies. In 2022, the top three were Tata Steel with 408 million euros in health damage, Esso’s refineries in Rotterdam at 185 million euros, and Shell at 176 million euros.

Pointer asked environmental economist Sander De Bruyn of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) to check its calculations. “The amount of 18 billion euros is a loss of prosperity that occurs immediately. If you apply the EEA method, you indeed arrive at this order of magnitude,” he said. Improving air quality is an investment, De Bruyn said. “The costs of the measures are generally less than the health benefits you can achieve.”

The public health institute RIVM lists air pollution as the second largest cause of health damage in the Netherlands, after smoking. One in five children with asthma developed the condition due to pollution. Air pollution also increases the risk of heart problems high blood pressure, low birth weight, and premature births. Around 11,000 Dutch people die an average of eight months early every year due to the consequences of breathing unhealthy air.

Air pollution has declined sharply since the 1990s, but the Netherlands is still far from meeting the World Health Organization’s advisory rules for healthy air, according to the program.