Air Pollution Gets Worse By the Day: WHO

Nine out of 10 people globally are breathing poor quality air, the World Health Organization said, calling for dramatic action against pollution that is blamed for more than six million deaths a year.

New data in a report from the UN's global health body "is enough to make all of us extremely concerned," Maria Neira, the head of the WHO's department of public health and environment, told reporters.

‘Urging governments to cut the number of vehicles on the road, improve waste management and promote clean cooking fuel could reduce air pollution.’

The problem is most acute in cities, but air in rural areas is worse than many think, WHO experts said. Poorer countries have much dirtier air than the developed world, according to the report, but pollution "affects practically all countries in the world and all parts of society", Neira said in a statement.

"Fast action to tackle air pollution can't come soon enough," she added, urging governments to cut the number of vehicles on the road, improve waste management and promote clean cooking fuel.

The report based on data collected from more than 3,000 sites across the globe found that "92 percent of the world's population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits".

The data focuses on dangerous particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, or PM2.5. PM2.5 includes toxins like sulfate and black carbon, which can penetrate deep into the lungs or cardiovascular system. Air with more than 10 microgrammes per cubic metre of PM2.5 on an annual average basis is considered substandard.

The WHO has estimated that more than six million deaths per year are linked to exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution. Data is more solid for outdoor pollution, which is blamed for more than three million fatalities annually. But indoor pollution can be equally as harmful, especially in poorer developing world homes where cooking often involves burning charcoal.

Nearly 90-percent of air pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, the WHO said. Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific region -- including China, Malaysia and Vietnam -- are the hardest hit, the data showed.

Carlos Dora, coordinator at the WHO's public health and environment department, said that some of the strategies adopted to safeguard against polluted air have limited effectiveness. For example, daily air quality warnings -- like those sometimes issued in Beijing -- likely do little to help the average person, since the real threat is exposure to sub-par air over extended periods.

Source: Medindia