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Accessed on 06.03.2022
Outdoor air quality has improved since the 1990s, but many challenges remain in protecting Americans from air
...
quality problems. Ground-level ozone, the main part of smog, and particle pollution are just two of the many threats to air quality and public health in the United States.
more
Harmful particle pollution is one of our nation’s most common air pollutants. Use the chart below to help reduce your exposure and protect your health. For your local air
...
quality forecast, visit www.airnow.gov
more
The EU's air quality directives (2008/50/EC Directive on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner
...
Air for Europe and 2004/107/EC Directive on heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air) set pollutant concentrations thresholds that shall not be exceeded in a given period of time. In case of exceedances, authorities must develop and implement air quality management plans. These plans should aim to bring concentrations of air pollutants to levels below the limit and target values.
Selected EU standards and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines are summarised in the table below. These apply over differing periods of time because the observed health impacts associated with the various pollutants occur over different exposure times.
The WHO guideline values are set for the protection of health, and are generally stricter than the comparable politically agreed EU standards.
more
Accessed on 06.03.2022
This interactive tool provides a snapshot – in the form of a map – of current national air quality standards for classical pollutants (particulate matter, nitrogen d
...
ioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide) for various averaging times. The WHO Air Quality Guidelines values and interim targets are provided as references. The data was compiled by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and will be updated regularly.
more
During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s economy slowed. Yet, the global annual average particulate pollution (PM2.5) was largely unchanged from 2019 levels. At the same time, growing evidence shows air pollution—even when exp
...
erienced at very low levels—hurts human health. This recently led the World Health Organization (WHO) to revise its guideline for what it considers a safe level of exposure of particulate pollution, bringing most of the world—97.3 percent of the global population—into the unsafe zone. The AQLI finds that particulate air pollution takes 2.2 years off global average life expectancy, or a combined 17 billion life-years, relative to a world that met the WHO guideline. This impact on life expectancy is comparable to that of smoking, more than three times that of alcohol use and unsafe water, six times that of HIV/AIDS, and 89 times that of conflict and terrorism.
more
India is the world’s second most polluted country. Air pollution shortens average Indian life expectancy by 5 years,
relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) of 5 μg/m3 was
...
met. Some areas of India fare much worse than average, with air pollution shortening lives by almost 10
years in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the most polluted city in the world.
more
Virtually all (99.9 percent) of Southeast Asia’s 656.1 million people live in areas where particulate pollution exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³. Despite the lockdowns of the pandemic, pollution continued to rise in much of Southeast Asia in 2020. This pollution c
...
uts short the life expectancy of the average Southeast Asian person by 1.5 years, relative to what it would be if the WHO guideline was met. That’s a total of 959.8 million person-years lost to pollution in the eleven countries that make up this region. Some countries in the region experience greater impacts from pollution.
more
In Central and West Africa, regions together comprising 27 countries and 605 million people, the average person is exposed to particulate pollution levels that are more than 4 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³1. If these particulate pollution levels persist, averag
...
e life expectancy in the regions would be 1.6 years lower, and a total of 971 million person-years would be lost, relative to if air quality met the WHO guideline. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, are the top three most polluted countries in the region.
more
Bangladesh is the world’s most polluted country. Air pollution shortens the average Bangladeshi’s life expectancy by 6.9 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³ was met. Some areas of Ban
...
gladesh fare much worse than average, with air pollution shortening lives by nearly 9 years in Dhaka, the country’s most polluted city.
more
Pakistan is the world’s fourth most polluted country. Air pollution shortens the average Pakistani’s life expectancy by 3.8 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m3 was met.1 Some areas of
...
Pakistan fare much worse than average, with air pollution shortening lives by almost 7 years in the country’s most polluted regions, like Lahore and Peshawar.
more
Nepal is the world’s third most polluted country. Air pollution shortens average Nepalese life expectancy by 4.1 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m3 was met.1 The highest concentrations
...
of air pollution are observed in Nepal’s southwestern districts, which share their borders with the highly-polluted Indo-Gangetic Plain of India. Here, residents stand to lose nearly 7 years of life expectancy.
more
Air pollution’s impact on life expectancy in Nigeria is greater than that of HIV/AIDS and almost on par with malaria and unsafe water and sanitation, shortening the average Nigerian’s life expectancy by 1.8 years, relative to what it would be if
...
the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m3 was met.1 Some areas of Nigeria fare much worse than average, with air pollution shortening lives by almost 4 years on average in parts of Taraba state in Northeastern Nigeria.
more
This report provides an overview of air pollution levels and associated health impacts in cities around the world. Since urban areas are often hotspots for poor air
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quality, city-level data can help to inform targeted efforts to curb urban air pollution and improve public health. This report draws on data from the Global Burden of Disease project and from peer-reviewed analyses led by Susan Anenberg of the George Washington University.
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In 2019, WHO estimated that 6.7 million premature deaths could be attributed to ambient and household air pollution from particulate matter (particles with a diameter less than 2.5 μm, PM2.5. Of the 4.2 million deaths attributed specifically to amb
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ient air pollution exposures.
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Exposure to air pollution can affect everyone’s health. When we breathe in air pollutants, they can enter our bloodstream and contribute to coughing or itchy eyes and cause or worsen many breathin
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g and lung diseases, leading to hospitalizations, cancer, or even premature death.
Minnesota’s air currently meets all federal air quality standards. However, even levels of air pollution below the standards can affect people’s health, including levels currently found in parts of Minnesota.
No matter where you live, you can be exposed to air pollution from vehicle exhaust, smoke, road dust, industrial emissions, pollen, gas-fueled yard equipment, chemicals we use in our homes, and other sources.
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WHO, as the coordinating authority on international health, supports countries in protecting public health through evidence-based policies and actions. Considering the significant health burden and the multiple potential benefits of interventions, the WHO
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Air Quality, Energy and Health Unit aims to support countries by providing evidence, building institutional capacity and leveraging the “health argument” to convene sectors to tackle air pollution and accelerate energy access.
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Accessed on 06.03.2022
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Air Pollution in Africa: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map
This guideline covers indoor air quality in residential buildings. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of good air
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quality in people's homes and how to achieve this.
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This guideline covers road-traffic-related air pollution and its links to ill health. It aims to improve air quality and so prevent a range of heal
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th conditions and deaths.
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The global burden of disease associated with air pollution exposure exacts a massive toll on human health worldwide: exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause millions of deaths and lost years
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of healthy life annually. The burden of disease attributable to air pollution is now estimated to be on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking, and air pollution is now recognized as the single biggest environmental threat to human health.
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