Europe Trails U.S. in Cutting Air Pollution, W.H.O. Says




European countries, which rely heavily on diesel-fueled vehicles, remain far behind the United States in their efforts to reduce harmful air pollution, according to a report to be issued Thursday by the World Health Organization.

The report, which compiled air quality readings from 3,000 cities in 103 countries, found that more than 80 percent of people in those cities were exposed to pollution exceeding the limits set by W.H.O. guidelines, above which air quality is considered to be unhealthy. And in poorer countries, 98 percent of cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants were out of compliance with the health organization’s guidelines.

Lower levels of pollution were far more prevalent in North America and higher-income European countries than in most other places, especially countries like India, Pakistan and China.

But in Europe, a higher percentage of cities exceeded the limits set by the W.H.O. than in North America.

That disparity was greatest in wealthier countries; more than 60 percent of European cities failed to meet the guidelines, compared with less than 20 percent in North America.

Cities in wealthier Asian countries like Japan, Korea and Singapore, the report found, also outpaced Europe, with more cities in compliance.

“The United States primarily has done an excellent job, moving from being a very dirty place in the 1950s to quite a clean place today,” said Dr. Carlos Dora, the health organization’s coordinator for its department of public health, environmental and social determinants of health.

Europe, he added, “has also moved from being extremely polluted,” but it has lagged — a delay that experts have speculated may result from factors that include wider use of fertilizer in urban areas, weaker environmental regulations and the popularity of diesel-powered engines.

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