Health impacts of air pollution

Thanks to successful mitigation policies, air pollution in Switzerland has been steadily decreasing in the past few decades. Since 2005, the . Minor annual fluctuations can be attributed to year-specific weather conditions. Switzerland met the emission reduction targets set out in the . With the exception of ozone levels, Switzerland is largely in compliance with legal air quality standards, essentially matching the . As a result of this positive development – and reflected in the graph – the number of premature deaths attributable to particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM_2.5) pollution has decreased . Nevertheless, a health impact assessment commissioned by the Federal Office for the Environment concludes that the additional health benefits of a further reduction to meet the World Health Organization recommendations from . While Switzerland has set long-term targets for the reduction of air pollutant emissions, including particulate matter, there is no national target in regard to premature mortality.