Outdoor Air Pollution

ECG Bulletin July 2014

The vast majority of cities that report air quality data do not meet World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines. And the air pollution experienced by about half of the urban population being monitored is at least 2.5 times higher than the WHO-recommended levels, putting people at additional risk of serious, long-term health problems. These are some of the conclusions from a database published by the WHO on 7 May 2014 (1). The database covers ca. 1600 cities from 91 countries around the world for which particulate data are available on PM₁₀ (particulate matter at 10 micrometres or less) or PM_2.5 (2.5 micrometres or less). PM_2.5 is considered to be the most reliable indicator of health risks from air pollution. Around 500 more cities are included than in the previous assessment in 2011, reflecting an increase in air quality monitoring. However, in many cities air quality has deteriorated. There is a lack of data for some medium or low income regions, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa. Earlier this year, the WHO warned that about 7 million deaths worldwide in 2012 (about one in eight of total global deaths) were linked to indoor and outdoor air pollution; an estimated 3.7 million of these deaths are attributed to outdoor air pollution (2).

References
1. See http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ releases/2014/air-quality/en/. The database may be found at http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/ outdoorair/databases/cities/en/ 
2. See http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ releases/2014/air-pollution/en/ 

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