Zaventem airport is not only the European airport that most affects nearby residents, it is also the main source of air pollution in Brussels and communes near the Flemish Brabant. These are the conclusions drawn by the Coeur Europe think-tank. It based them on fine and ultrafine particle emissions over the capital, La Libre Belgique and La Dernière Heure reported on Wednesday. “With 400 take-offs a day in the Spring, 300,000 litres of kerosene are burned by planes leaving Zaventem airport every day”, says Coeur Europe. “This figure is slightly higher than the total petrol and diesel consumption by the 190,000 vehicles used in Brussels every day by residents of the Brussels-Capitale region”, the think-tank adds.
Though noise pollution mainly affects those in the flight path, air pollution has negative effects on the whole Brussels population and the surroundings, says Jean-Nöel Lebrun, a founding member of Coeur Europe.
(Source: Belga)
