Environmental Factors Involved in the High Incidence of Bladder Cancer in an Industrialized Area in North-Eastern Spain

Table 1

Evolution of the maximum regulatory level set by the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for each pollutant.

Pollutant		Regulatory level EU		Regulatory level WHO
Air concentration		(EU, 1999)^1	(EU, 2008)^2	(WHO, 2006)^#1	(WHO, 2021)^#2
PM2.5 μg/m^3	Annual 24-hour^a	25	20	10	5
				25	15
PM10 μg/m^3	Annual 24-hour^a	40	40	20	15
		50^C		50	45
NO2 μg/m^3	Annual 1-hour 24-hour^a	40	40	40	10
		200		200
					25
O3 μg/m^3	Annual 8-hour^b				60
		120^3	120	100	100
Water concentration		(EU, 1998)^4	(EU, 2020)^5	(WHO, 2008)^#3	(WHO, 2017)^#4
Arsenic μg/L	Annual	10	10	10	10
Nitrate mg/L	Annual	50	50	50	50
Trihalomethanes total μg/L	Annual	100	100	100	100

EU = European Union; WHO = World Health Organization.^a99^th percentile (i.e., 3-4 exceedance days per year).^bAverage of daily maximum 8-hour mean concentration. ^cNot to be exceeded more than 35 times a calendar year × ^∗1 Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April, 1999, relating to limit values for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, and lead in ambient air. ²Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. (OJ L 152, 11.6.2008, pp. 1–44) ³Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2002 relating to ozone in ambient air. ⁴Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption ⁵Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast). ^#1WHO Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Global update 2005. Summary of risk assessment. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006. ^#2WHO global air quality guidelines. Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021. ^#3Guidelines for drinking water quality (electronic resource): incorporating the 1st and 2nd addenda, Vol.1, recommendations. 3^rd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2008. ^#4Guidelines for drinking water quality: the fourth edition incorporating the first addendum. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.