Environmental quality across Europe has been steadily improving over recent decades. Nonetheless, environmental health hazards continue to affect European citizens. Air pollution and noise cause diseases and shorten lives. Heatwaves across Europe in recent years have resulted in thousands of fatalities, and cold spells bring on poor health and excess deaths. The burden of environmental disease is unequally distributed across European society.

People and the environment are exposed to a wide variety of extremely persistent chemicals known as PFAS, many of which are known to be toxic. This briefing presents an overview of these chemicals, which continue to accumulate in people and the environment.

Climate change affects all Europeans but vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, children, low-income groups and people with health problems or disabilities, are the most affected. One in ten European schools and hospitals may also be at flood risk and about half of those facilities in cities are within intense urban heat islands. Exposure to air pollution, second-hand smoke, radon, ultraviolet radiation, asbestos, certain chemicals and other pollutants causes over 10% of all cancer cases.

Noise pollution is a major environmental health concern in Europe. It is caused by noise coming from a variety of sources and is widely present not only in the busiest urban environments but increasingly in once natural environments. The adverse effects on those exposed to noise pollution include threats to the well-being of human populations, the deteriorating health and distribution of wildlife on land and in the sea, the decreased abilities of our children to learn properly at school and the high economic price society must pay as a result.