Belgium has second-worst air quality in Europe: study

Belgium has the second-worst air quality among European countries, behind only Montenegro, according to a new global study carried out by American universities of Yale and Columbia.

The Environmental Performance Index assessed countries' environment according to 16 criteria, including water consumption, overfishing and pollution, La Libre Belgique newspaper quoted the study on Tuesday.

The study found Brussels had an average annual concentration of fine particles of 15 microgrammes per cubic metre - higher than the safe limit of 10 set by the World Health Organization but below the European safe limit of 25.

According to the European Environment Agency, 12,000 premature deaths in Belgium each year - and 400,000 across Europe - can be blamed on air pollution, with fine particles responsible for cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses including pneumonia, lung cancer and stroke.

The agency's director, Hans Bruyninckx, told La Libre: "We are not surprised by the poor score for Belgium."

However the Brussels region environment minister Celine Fremault has questioned the research, which was carried out using satellite readings. Fremault told the newspaper that research carried out at monitoring stations on the ground suggested air quality in the Belgian capital was in line with the European average. Enditem