Athens’ “Nephos”: A Heating Oil Tax Hike, Particulate Matter, and Public Health

This paper focuses on the human health impacts of the increasing smog in Athens, Greece following a tax hike on home heating oil. The purpose of this work is to determine if the Greek government should lessen the current heating oil tax (or pursue another policy approach) in order to reduce Athenian smog and the subsequent effects of particulate matter on public health. This work contains a risk assessment, a synthesis of scientific and epidemiologic findings, an exploration of tax and health policy options, and a final, evidence-based policy recommendation. In the wake of Greece’s national debt crisis and supranational 2010-11 bailout negotiations, the Greek government raised heating oil taxes in late 2012. As a result, many residents have resorted to burning scrap wood, firewood, and even garbage for home heating. Biomass burning releases particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other carcinogens into the air, which becomes trapped in and around Athens as smog. This can be especially noxious to certain sub-populations, such as those with heart disease, hypertension, or asthma. Two particulate matter types, PM2.5 and PM10, are of particular interest due to their established potency in human health and previous measurements in the Greek capital. This paper’s synthesis of evidence summarizes strong dose-response relationships (in intervals of roughly 10 μg/m3) for PM2.5 and PM10 with various morbidity and mortality measures. Greek political leadership is in neither a public health nor an ethical position to gamble with harmful aerosols over matters of taxation. Given the established human health impacts of PM2.5 and PM10 released by burning cheap fossil fuel alternatives, it is vital and time-sensitive that Ministers and public officials of the Hellenic Republic come together and enact the recommended home heating oil tax relief.