People living near an airport are particularly exposed to ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) from aircraft, which may be linked to the development of serious and long-term health problems. This is what emerges from a new study commissioned by T&E (Transport&Environment) and relayed by the federation of Belgian environmental associations Canopea.
According to this study, carried out by the CE Delft design office, exposure to ultrafine particles could be associated with 8,716 cases of high blood pressure, 9,297 cases of diabetes and 607 cases of dementia around Brussels airport. Nearly one in five Belgians (2.28 million people) lives within a 20 km radius of Brussels Airport.
At European level, 52 million people are affected by the 32 busiest airports. We are talking about 280,000 cases of high blood pressure, 330,000 cases of diabetes and 18,000 cases of dementia across the continent. Ultrafine particles are emitted at high altitude, but also during takeoff and landing. People living within a 5 km radius of an airport breathe air that contains, on average, 3,000 to 10,000 ultrafine particles per cm³ emitted by planes. In many cities, there is also a correlation between people living near an airport and low income, the study found.
There are no regulations on the safety levels of UFP in the air, although the WHO warned that it was an emerging pollutant of concern more than fifteen years ago. The amount of ultrafine particles emitted by aircraft depends largely on the composition of the fuel. The cleaner it is, the less polluting its combustion is. Using “better quality” jet fuel can reduce ultrafine particle emissions by up to 70%, according to the study.
Cleaning this fuel by hydrotreating, which involves adding hydrogen to the fuel, removing impurities and improving its composition and combustion properties, would reduce air pollution near airports. This process is already used to remove sulfur from fuels for cars and ships, but standards for jet fuels have never been improved.
