Air pollution in the Paris region has been cut in half over the past two decades, according to a new study published by Airparif, an independent group that tracks air quality.
Between 2005 and 2024, levels of the two most harmful air pollutants – fine particles and nitrogen dioxide – fell by 55 percent and 50 percent respectively, the group said in a report published Wednesday.
The drop is the result of a mix of European, national and local policies, Airparif said, aimed at reducing emissions from road traffic, heating and industry.
Antoine Trouche, an engineer at Airparif, told France Inter radio that several concrete steps had made a difference.
These included “the Euro emissions standards, taxation of industrial pollutant emissions, and increased public transport and cycling infrastructure”.
He also pointed to “the replacement of diesel vehicles with petrol and electric vehicles”.
Macron revives climate council as French emissions targets fall short
Ozone pollution
The study found that ozone is the only major pollutant that hasn't gone down over the past 20 years.
Unlike fine particles or nitrogen dioxide, ozone isn’t released directly into the air. Instead, it forms when sunlight triggers a chemical reaction between other pollutants, like those from cars or factories.
This type of ozone, found at ground level, can be harmful to human health – especially on hot, sunny days.
Airparif said that even though local emissions that help create ozone have fallen, those gains are being cancelled out by global warming, which encourages ozone to form more easily.
Climate-hit citizens launch legal challenge against French state
Fewer deaths
Airparif said the improved air quality had a real impact on public health.
“The number of premature deaths linked to air pollution has fallen by a third between 2010 and 2019,” the study found.
Still, pollution remains a major concern. In 2019, it caused an average loss of about 10 months of life expectancy per adult in the region.
It was also linked to 10 to 20 percent of new cases of chronic respiratory illnesses – including asthma, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition that makes it harder to breathe over time – and 5 to 10 percent of cardiovascular and metabolic conditions such as heart attacks, strokes and type 2 diabetes.
Airparif is calling on authorities to keep going. The World Health Organization’s recommended air quality limits are still being breached across Île-de-France. Meeting those limits “would prevent 7,900 premature deaths”, the report said.
Nice to ban cruise ships in fight against overtourism and pollution
Stricter EU rules
The European Union’s current air quality rules, set in 2008, are now nearly met across the region. But not entirely.
Airparif said “800 residents of the Paris region were still exposed to pollution levels exceeding one of these standards in 2024” – down from 5,000 in 2023.
Those living closest to heavy traffic are most affected. The remaining high-pollution zones are mainly located “within 50 metres of major traffic routes”, the group said.
Tougher EU rules will apply from 2030. If those limits had already been in place this year, 2.6 million people in the Paris region would have avoided pollution above the legal threshold, Airparif said.
