Graphic by T&E, based on these figures.
New research shows you unconsciously inhale 1 to 4 cigarettes of air pollution during a city trip in Europe. During a four-day stay in Amsterdam, you unconsciously “smoke” 2 cigarettes and if you live in Amsterdam, you “smoke” up to 183 cigarettes every year.
Data collected by the Brussels organization Transport & Environment indicates the air quality in European cities is not as healthy as people think. The main cause of air pollution is attributed to traffic.
Transport & Environment links air quality data from official monitoring stations to the data of the American organization Berkley Earth. Berkley Earth has shown that a daily average of 22 ug/m³ of particulate matter (PM2.5) equals the health impact of smoking 1 cigarette. This allows the number of air pollution cigarettes to be calculated per city.
This study looked at the 10 most popular European cities that tourists visit during a city trip. The air pollution that one encounters in Amsterdam is equal to the air pollution in Paris, Rome and Vienna. The air quality in Prague and Istanbul is even worse, here you unconsciously “smoke” 4 cigarettes in 4 days. The cities with the least air pollution are Dublin and Barcelona with respectively 1 cigarette of air pollution in 4 days.
