Almost the entire world population (99%) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits and threatens their health. A record number of more than 6,000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but people who live in them still breathe unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, and people in low-income and medium-sized suffer the highest exposures.
The findings have prompted the World Health Organization to highlight the importance of curbing fossil fuel use and taking other tangible steps to reduce air pollution levels.
Launched in the run-up to World Health Day, which this year celebrates the theme Our Planet, Our Health, the 2022 update of the World Health Organization’s air quality database features, for the first time, ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO two), a common urban pollutant and precursor to particulate matter and ozone. It also includes measurements of particulate matter with diameters equal to or less than 10 μm (PM 10) or 2.5 μm (PM 2.5). Both groups of pollutants originate mainly from human activities related to the burning of fossil fuels.
The new air quality database is the most extensive yet in its coverage of air pollution exposure on the ground. Some 2,000 more cities/human settlements are now recording soil monitoring data for particulate matter, PM 10 or PM 2.5, than in the last update. This marks a nearly 6-fold increase in reporting since the database was launched in 2011.
Meanwhile, the evidence base for the harm that air pollution causes to the human body has been growing rapidly and points to significant harm caused by even low levels of many air pollutants.
particulate matter, especially PM 2.5, is capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and entering the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke) and respiratory impacts. There is emerging evidence that the particles impact other organs and cause other diseases as well.
He does not two it is associated with respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath), hospital admissions, and emergency room visits.
Steps governments can take to improve air quality and health
Last year, the WHO revised its Air Quality Guidelines, making them more stringent in an effort to help countries better assess the healthiness of their own air. “Current energy concerns highlight the importance of accelerating the transition to cleaner and healthier energy systems,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “High fossil fuel prices, energy security, and the urgency to address the twin health challenges of air pollution and climate change underscore the pressing need to move faster toward a world that is far less dependent on fossil fuels”.
Several governments are taking steps to improve air quality, but the WHO is calling for rapid escalation of action to:
- Adopt or review and implement national air quality standards in accordance with the latest WHO Air Quality Guidelines
- Monitor air quality and identify sources of air pollution
- Support the transition towards the exclusive use of clean domestic energy for cooking, heating and lighting
- Build safe and affordable public transportation systems and networks that are friendly to pedestrians and cyclists
- Implement stricter regulations on vehicle emissions and efficiency; and enforce mandatory vehicle inspection and maintenance
- Invest in energy efficient homes and power generation
- Improve the management of industrial and municipal waste
- Reduce the incineration of agricultural residues, forest fires and certain agroforestry activities (for example, the production of charcoal)
- Include air pollution in the curricula of health professionals and provide tools for the health sector to participate.
Across the 117 countries that monitor air quality, the air in 17% of cities in high-income countries is below the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for PM2.5or PM 10.In low- and middle-income countries, air quality is less than 1%. of cities meet the thresholds recommended by the WHO.
Higher income countries see less particulate pollution, but most cities have problems with nitrogen dioxide
Globally, low- and middle-income countries still experience higher exposure to unhealthy levels of PM compared to the global average, but patterns of NO two they are different and show fewer differences between high-, low- and middle-income countries.
About 4,000 cities/human settlements in 74 countries collect NO data two at ground level. Taken together, their measurements show that only 23% of people in these places breathe annual average concentrations of NO two that meet the levels in the recently updated version of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines.
“After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable years of good health lost due to air pollution. That’s what we say when we look at the mountain of data, evidence and solutions available on air pollution. However, too many investments are still being invested in a polluted environment instead of clean and healthy air,” said Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the WHO Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.
Tracking improvement needed
People living in low- and middle-income countries are the most exposed to air pollution. They are also the least covered in terms of air quality measurement, but the situation is improving.
Europe and, to some extent, North America remain the regions with the most comprehensive data on air quality. In many low- and middle-income countries, although measurements of PM 2.5 are not yet available, great improvements in measurements have been seen between the last database update in 2018 and this one, with an additional 1,500 human settlements in these countries monitoring air quality.
Source: WHO
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