Air-quality guides
Plain-English explainers on European air quality, pollutants, monitoring, and the EU vs WHO regulatory gap.
Understanding PM2.5 vs PM10
Why fine particulate matter is more dangerous than coarse, health pathways, sources, and where the EU and WHO numbers come from.
EU limit values vs WHO 2021 guidelines
The gap between European legal limits and World Health Organization health-evidence guidelines explained, with the 2024 revised directive timeline.
The seven regulated EU air pollutants
PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3, SO2, CO, and benzene, what each pollutant is, where it comes from, and how exposure affects health.
How air pollution affects health
Cardiovascular, respiratory, and cognitive impacts, the WHO 2021 evidence summary translated for a general audience.
Best and worst European cities for air quality
A snapshot of the cleanest and most polluted urban environments in 2024, with population-weighted PM2.5 rankings.
What is an air-quality monitoring station?
How traffic, background, and industrial stations differ, why the EEA station-code classification matters, and what 75% data capture actually means.
Wildfire smoke and Saharan dust intrusions
How trans-boundary events drive short-term PM2.5 spikes across Europe and how the EEA handles attribution.
Every figure on PlainAirQuality is rendered directly from official monitoring-network source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on official monitoring-network source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.