{"id":32566,"date":"2020-11-20T15:54:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T13:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/advice\/air-pollution\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T10:16:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:16:48","slug":"la-pollution-de-lair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/la-pollution-de-lair\/","title":{"rendered":"Air pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WHO estimates that in 2005, between 42,000 and 48,000 people died as a result of air pollution in France (based on a European Commission study), and that air pollution accounts for 11.6% of global mortality.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A. What are we talking about?<\/h2>\n\n

1. What is dust?<\/h3>\n\n

Dust is a solid particle with an aerodynamic diameter of no more than 100 micrometers, or with a falling speed of no more than 0.25 meters per second under normal temperature conditions: Article R. 4222-3.<\/p>\n\n

2. Particles in general and measurements<\/h3>\n\n

First of all, here are a few notions of size:1 \u00b5m (1 micrometer) = 0.0001 cmThe diameter of a hair is between 50 and 70\u00b5mA virus is between 0.01 and 0.4 \u00b5mIn the field of filtration, we always talk about PM… But what does it mean?PM refers to particles in suspension whose diameter is less than the number indicated. They are always expressed in \u00b5m. PM 2.5 refers to particles measuring no more than 2.5 \u00b5m.<\/p>\n\n

3. What is air quality?<\/h3>\n\n

We often hear about air quality and health risks. But what is it and how can it influence our daily lives?Air quality refers to the quantity of fine PM 10 particles and the concentration of harmful gases in the air. These pollutants are produced either naturally, by manufacturing processes or by combustion.<\/p>\n\n

New WHO reference thresholds for the \u00cele-de-France region<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Data gathered by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that air pollution has harmful effects on health at even lower concentrations than previously thought. To adapt to this situation, the WHO has decided to lower almost all its reference thresholds.<\/p>\n\n

\"air<\/figure>\n\n

The most significant change between the 2005 and 2021 reference thresholds concerns nitrogen dioxide: the annual average has been reduced from 40 \u00b5g\/m3 to 10 \u00b5g\/m3, and a daily recommendation of 25 \u00b5g\/m3 has been established. As a reminder, nitrogen dioxide is mainly emitted by road traffic in the Paris Region, accounting for 53% of total nitrogen oxide emissions. It should be noted that the WHO recommendations also cover two other pollutants, carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), but the CO content of these pollutants in \u00cele-de-France is very low, and the SO2 content is virtually zero.<\/p>\n\n

\"average<\/figure>\n\n

B. Different types of pollution<\/h2>\n\n

1. Physical pollution<\/h3>\n\n

Although they can be a nuisance in our daily lives, not all dust is harmful. What makes them harmful is their fragmentation into very fine particles.<\/p>\n\n

Physical pollution is dust which, if it were any bigger, would have no effect on our health.<\/p>\n\n

2. Biological pollution<\/h3>\n\n

This category of pollutant includes all organisms living in dust or airborne. These include mites, moulds, spores, viruses and bacteria.<\/p>\n\n

These are highly allergenic and cause irritation of the throat and respiratory tract.<\/p>\n\n

3. Chemical pollution<\/h3>\n\n

a. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)<\/h4>\n\n

VOCs cover a multitude of substances. These are chemical compounds derived mainly from the degradation of petroleum by combustion, evaporation or transformation processes. They are also found in many professional, industrial and household products such as glues, resins, stain removers, solvents, paints, insecticides, etc. They are part of our daily lives in all areas.Their highly volatile nature means they disperse quickly and contaminate all your premises.<\/p>\n\n

b. Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene (BTEX)<\/h4>\n\n

BTEX is the most harmful family of VOCs. These 4 compounds are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Derived solely from the combustion, transformation or evaporation of petroleum, they are found in all plastics industries, petrochemical industries, service stations, degreasers, petroleum products, etc.<\/p>\n\n

c. CMRs in general<\/h4>\n\n

CMRs are chemical agents that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. They are the most harmful but also the most controlled category of pollutants.<\/p>\n\n

d. The specific case of CMRs<\/h4>\n\n

-What is a CMR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The term CMR designates a product or industrial manufacturing process that releases particles that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. Since June 2015, they must bear the following label:<\/p>\n\n

\"CMR<\/figure>\n\n

A CMR is a particle that meets one of the following descriptions:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  • Carcinogen: Dangerous chemical agent in its pure state (asbestos, wood dust, benzene, etc.) or in a mixture or process that can cause cancer or increase its frequency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Mutagenic or genotoxic: chemical that induces alterations in the structure or number of chromosomes in cells. Chromosomes are the parts of the cell nucleus that carry DNA. The mutagenic effect (or genotoxic damage) is an initial stage in the development of cancer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Reproductive toxicity or reprotoxicity: chemical product (e.g. lead) that can impair fertility in men or women, or alter the development of the unborn child (spontaneous abortion, malformation, etc.). (Source INRS: CMR chemical agents)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

    -What are CMR products?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

    List of all products classified as CMR by the CNRS as of June 30, 2017<\/p>\n\n

    -How do I know if I’m using CMR products?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

      \n
    • According to the ministerial order of July 13, 2006, any substance, preparation or process used in :<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Auramine production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Work involving exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in soot, tar, pitch, coal smoke or dust<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Work involving exposure to dusts, fumes or mists produced during the roasting and electro-refining of nickel mattes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Strong acid processes in isopropyl alcohol production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Work involving inhalable wood dust<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Work involving exposure to formaldehyde<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Personnel responsible for maintaining work equipment contaminated by CMR agents (art. R. 4412-73)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Maintenance activities for which a significant increase in exposure is foreseeable (art. R. 4412-75)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

      e. Industries concerned<\/h4>\n\n

      The INRS has drawn up a non-exhaustive, non-hierarchical list of sectors concerned by CMRs:<\/p>\n\n

        \n
      • the building sector ,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the public works sector,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • railway construction,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • shipbuilding,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • metallurgy,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the glass industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • metal industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • chemical industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • pharmaceutical industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the leather industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the rubber industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the oil industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • the wood industry,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • agriculture,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • research laboratories,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • services (maintenance, cleaning, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        WHO estimates that in 2005, between 42,000 and 48,000 people died as a result of air pollution in France (based on a European Commission study), and that air pollution accounts for 11.6% of global mortality. What is dust, air quality and the different types of air pollution?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Our advice: everything you need to know about air pollution","_seopress_titles_desc":"WHO estimates that in 2005, between 42,000 and 48,000 people died as a result of air pollution in France, representing 11.6% of global mortality.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-tips","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","no-featured-image-padding","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32566"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99392,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32566\/revisions\/99392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}