On December 28, 2022, 'El País', in its Environment section, commented on the scientific study, published in the scientific journal Environmental Research, coordinated by Julio Díaz, from the National School of Public Health of the Carlos III Institute of Madrid, and in which Maria A Barceló and Marc Saez have participated. The study has calculated the economic impact of peaks in air pollution and noise in the Community of Madrid, Spain.
Air and noise pollution claim thousands of lives every year in Spain. But, in addition, pollution peaks are associated with a high cost in hospital expenses due to the cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that they trigger. The aforementioned study has translated this impact into figures in the Community of Madrid based on hospitalization data for the period between 2013 and 2018. Only in emergency admissions, the article estimates the cost in that community at around 202 million euros per year.
The authors have compared emergency hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases with data on air pollution and noise pollution. And they have estimated costs for each income. They conclude that an average of 8,246 emergency admissions attributable to peaks of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are registered in Madrid each year, the estimated cost of which is close to 120 million euros. To these are added another 5,685-income attributable to noise pollution, the cost of which is around 82 million. Although other substances have been analysed for the study, such as ozone and suspended particles, the authors maintain that nitrogen dioxide and noise "are the main pollutants to which a large number of hospitalizations are attributed", therefore they are also "responsible for a marked deterioration in the health of the population and a high related economic impact".
Ruíz-Páez R, Díaz J, López-Bueno JA, Asensio C, Ascaso MS, Saez M, Luna Y, Barceló MA, Navas MA, Linares C. Short-term effects of air pollution and noise on emergency hospital admissions in Madrid and economic assessment. Environmental Research 2023; 219:115147. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.115147.