Jet engines produce large amounts of ultrafine particles
Aerovista Luchtfotografie/Shutters stock
The health of more than 50 million people living within 20km of Europe’s busiest airport is said to be suffering from high levels of ultrafine air pollution emitted from jet engines. research It was commissioned by campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E).
part Other studies suggest They say ultrafine dust can increase the risk of respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, diabetes and pregnancy problems. Dan Van Setters From the Dutch consulting firm CE Delft. Based on these studies, his team has now tried to estimate the impact across Europe.
However, ultrafine dust is an area where little research has been done on air pollution, so there is great uncertainty. “Research in this area is sparse and the evidence is often inconclusive,” says van Seters.
Much research on particulate air pollution has focused on particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM2.5. Ultrafine particles are a subset of particles less than 0.1 micrometer in diameter.
“They are very dangerous because they are so small and can penetrate deep into the human body,” he says. Carlos Lopez de la Osa In T&E.
Jet engines produce more ultrafine particles than other types of engines, so people who live or work near airports are most likely to be exposed to this form of air pollution. However, there is no real limit to that level.
Ultrafine particles are a form of PM2.5, but the PM2.5 limit is for the total mass of particles per cubic meter of air. Because ultrafine particles are so small, there can be huge amounts per cubic meter without exceeding the PM2.5 limit.
In practice, there is little monitoring of ultrafine particle levels, says López de la Osa. “What we have is mostly regional studies of individual airports: Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Los Angeles, etc.,” he says. “We don’t have a comprehensive view. “This is one of the main reasons we decided to start this study.”
To estimate the impact across Europe, van Seters and his colleagues first estimated ultrafine pollution levels around the continent’s 32 busiest airports, based on findings from individual airports. The research team assumed that ultrafine pollution increases linearly with the number of flights and did not take wind patterns into account.
Next, based on a study examining health impacts, the researchers estimated that ultrafine pollution near 32 airports caused an additional 280,000 cases of high blood pressure, 330,000 cases of diabetes, and 18,000 cases of dementia over the years.
“These are first estimates based on extrapolation and epidemiological studies need to be performed to obtain more accurate estimates,” says van Seters.
But he thinks it is rather underestimated. That’s because the study only looked at people living within a 20km radius of 32 airports and excluded people who work at the airports.
In terms of exposed population, Orly Airport near Paris ranks first, with more than 6 million people living within a 20km radius. London’s Heathrow Airport is the fourth airport in the vicinity with a population of more than 3 million.
The team’s estimates of the health impacts rely heavily on a 2022 study of Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam. Nicole Jansen Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and her colleagues. Janssen said her team had been contacted by CE Delft, but they advised her researchers not to attempt to quantify the impact in this way, given the large uncertainty.
But she agrees that more research is needed. “We would like to highlight our recommendation to further investigate the risks of ultrafine particles from aircraft around other international airports,” Janssen said.
T&E’s Krisztina Toth says there are several ways to reduce ultrafine pollution levels. It is possible to modify jet fuel to reduce ultrafine particle emissions, for example by reducing sulfur content. So-called “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF) also produces less ultrafine pollution.
“But unfortunately, we know that it will be quite some time before SAF production scales up enough to have such an impact,” Toth says.
Limiting the number of airport expansions and flights and encouraging alternative modes of transport would help and also limit the climate impact of flying.
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