Call it the Air Wars. For the past 18 months, the city of London has failed to meet air-quality limits set by the European Commission (EC). Earlier this month, Brussels granted the U.K. capital a temporary extension to bring levels of a certain type of dangerous pollutant called PM10 to within a safe standard. But facing a $480 million fine should the city fail to comply, London's mayor has launched a novel challenge to the EC, saying that London's pollution is actually the result of bad air drifting over from other European countries.
In 2008, the EC adopted a directive that set ambient air-quality limits for a variety of pollutants, including PM10 — that is, particles above 10 micrometers in diameter. Such particles, which are emitted by industry, traffic and domestic heating, cause 4,300 premature deaths in London each year, mostly in elderly and asthmatic citizens, according to a report last year by the mayor's office. Under the EC directive, cities are allowed to exceed the limit for PM10 up to 35 times each year; London has consistently surpassed that number.
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