{"id":137320,"date":"2021-09-27T19:08:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T13:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=137320"},"modified":"2021-09-29T21:32:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T16:02:24","slug":"new-evidence-led-to-whos-new-air-quality-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-evidence-led-to-whos-new-air-quality-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"New Evidence Led To WHO\u2019s New Air Quality Standard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the news?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The World Health Organization(WHO) released the Global Air Quality Guidelines(AQGs) <\/strong>recently.<\/p>\n

Why was a higher standard necessary?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Since the last global update in 2005, there has been a marked increase in quality and quantity of evidence<\/strong> that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of human health.<\/p>\n

The evidence also shows that adhering to new levels could save millions of lives. It shows around 80% of deaths globally attributed to PM2.5 exposure could be avoided<\/strong> if countries attain the annual AQG (air quality guidelines) level.<\/p>\n

Even the attainment of an interim target for PM2.5 (the 2005 level) would result in a nearly 48% decrease in total deaths<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So, the clear evidence of health benefits prompted the global health body to update its guidelines on air quality standards.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong><\/span>: The Particulate Matter (PM), primarily generated by fossil fuel combustion, is even classified as carcinogenic by the WHO\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Must Read<\/strong>: WHO’s Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) – Explained<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Where does India stand?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

India always has less stringent benchmarks for almost all key pollutants compared to the ones set by the\u00a0WHO.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2021 AQG has made India\u2019s national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), set in 2009, look more relaxed. Most Indian cities had, in fact, failed to meet even the\u00a0WHO<\/span>\u00a02005 AQG level.<\/p>\n

Under 2021 AQG<\/strong>,<\/p>\n

– new annual standard for PM2.5<\/strong> is set at 5 micrograms per cubic meter (\u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0) compared to 10 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0in 2005 whereas its 24-hour mean is now fixed at 15 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0compared to 25 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0in 2005.<\/p>\n

– <\/strong>On the other hand, the acceptable level for PM2.5<\/strong> in India is much higher<\/strong> \u2013 40 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0and 60 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0for annual and 24-hour mean, respectively.<\/p>\n

– <\/strong>Similarly, India\u2019s annual acceptable level for PM10<\/strong> is 60 \u03bcg\/m3<\/sup>\u00a0which is four times higher<\/strong> than the new\u00a0WHO<\/span>\u00a0standards.<\/p>\n

Will India revise its NAAQS, taking into account the\u00a0<\/span>WHO<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>2021 AQG?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

India has already started working on revising its air quality standards.<\/strong> Though the country is expected to make its NAAQS more stringent compared to its 2009 standards, it won\u2019t be as stringent as the\u00a0WHO<\/span> 2021 AQG.<\/p>\n

Experts\u00a0will factor in local meteorological<\/strong> and topographical conditions<\/strong> for arriving at new NAAQS next year. Besides the six classical pollutants, India\u2019s NAAQS basket has two more pollutants \u2013 benzene<\/strong> and ammonia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the global context of the new\u00a0<\/span>WHO<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>standards?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

Release of new air quality standards at this juncture is significant, especially when there has been a growing momentum to bring more and more countries on board to get pledges for deep emission cuts<\/strong> ahead of 26th session of the UN climate conference (COP26).<\/p>\n

Since some air pollutants \u2013 particularly black carbon (a component of PM) and tropospheric (ground-level) ozone \u2013 are also shortlived climate pollutants, efforts to improve air quality by reducing or phasing out fossil fuel can enhance climate change mitigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Must Read<\/strong>: WHO\u2019s new air quality standards underline the health-pollution link.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article \u201cNew Evidence Led To WHO\u2019s New Air Quality Standard<\/strong>\u201d published in TOI<\/strong> on 27th Sep 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the news? The World Health Organization(WHO) released the Global Air Quality Guidelines(AQGs) recently. Why was a higher standard necessary? Since the last global update in 2005, there has been a marked increase in quality and quantity of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of human health. The evidence also shows… Continue reading New Evidence Led To WHO\u2019s New Air Quality Standard<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,9],"tags":[380,8659,9296,1089,9940],"class_list":["post-137320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-public","tag-air-pollution","tag-environmental-pollution","tag-pollution-mitigation","tag-who","tag-whos-air-quality-standards","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":1700783100,"cached_date":1704729948},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}