Clean air in Europe for all! Taking stock of the proposed revision to the ambient air quality directives: a joint ERS, HEI and ISEE workshop report

Ambient air pollution is a major public health concern and comprehensive new legislation is currently being considered to improve air quality in Europe. The European Respiratory Society (ERS), Health Effects Institute (HEI), and International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) organised a joint meeting on May 24, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium, to review and critically evaluate the latest evidence on the health effects of air pollution and discuss ongoing revisions of the European Ambient Air Quality Directives (AAQDs). A multi-disciplinary expert group of air pollution and health researchers, patient and medical societies, and policy representatives participated. This report summarises key discussions at the meeting. The authors acknowledge the ERS, HEI, and ISEE for providing funding to hold the workshop. The event was also supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Detailed workshop materials are available on the HEI website : [www.healtheffects.org/meeting/brussels-meeting-air-pollution-and-health-taking-stock-proposed-revision-ambient-air-quality][1]. The authors also acknowledge the following workshop participants who provided an opening address Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries and Javi Lopez, EU Parliament, Rapporteur for the Ambient Air Quality Directive (video address); and Alexander Simidchiev, Bulgarian National Assembly Parliament for participation as a discussant. MCT is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-01892) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and co-funded by the European Social Fund. ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. IM is supported from the “NeuroSmog: Determining the impact of air pollution on the developing brain” (Nr. POIR.04.04.00–1763/18–00) which is implemented as part of the TEAM-NET programme of the Foundation for Polish Science, co-financed from EU resources, obtained from the European Regional Development Fund under the Smart Growth Operational Programme and by the “Strategic research and innovation program for the development of Medical University – Plovdiv” № BG-RRP-2.004-0007-C01, Establishment of a network of research higher schools, National plan for recovery and resilience, financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. [1]: http://www.healtheffects.org/meeting/brussels-meeting-air-pollution-and-health-taking-stock-proposed-revision-ambient-air-quality