Figure 2.3.3: Western and Central Europe and South Eastern Europe, annual average PM2.5
values
Source: EEA 2013a
EU urban population is still exposed to unacceptably high average annual concentrations of PM2.5
guideline levels. Under current legislation, PM10
compared with WHO pollution
hotspots will remain in Eastern Europe and major Western and Central European cities such as Milan (Italy), Paris (France) and Warsaw (Poland) (Kiesewetter et al. 2015).
70
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed mainly during incomplete combustion of carbonaceous material (Zhang and Tao 2009; Breivik et al. 2007). They are subject to long- range atmospheric transport (Halsall et al. 2001) and are considered carcinogenic. Concentrations both in air and in precipitation are decreasing: benzo(a)pyrene concentrations were reduced between 1996–2009 by 36 per cent in air and
