About six months after tightening its air quality guidelines, the World Health Organization released an update to its air quality database on Monday based on information from a growing number of cities, towns and villages around the world. the world – which now exceeds 6,000 municipalities.
The WHO said 99% of the world’s population breathes air that exceeds air quality limits and is often full of particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter veins and arteries and cause disease.  Air quality is worse in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, followed by Africa, he said.
“Once a pandemic survives, it is unacceptable that there are still 7 million deaths that can be avoided and countless wasted years of good health that can be prevented by air pollution,” said Dr. Maria Neira, head of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. of WHO.  “However, too much investment is still sinking into a polluted environment rather than clean, healthy air.”
The database, which traditionally looked at two types of particles known as PM2.5 and PM10, first included nitrogen dioxide measurements in the soil.  The latest version of the database was published in 2018.
Nitrogen dioxide comes mainly from the combustion of man-made fuels, such as through car traffic, and is more common in urban areas.  Exposure can cause respiratory illnesses such as asthma and symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing and more hospital and emergency admissions, the WHO said.  The highest concentrations were found in the eastern Mediterranean region.
On Monday, the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus suffered high concentrations of atmospheric dust for the third day in a row, with some cities showing triple and almost four times the 50 micrograms per square meter that authorities consider normal.  Officials said the tiny particles could be particularly harmful to young children, the elderly and the sick.
The particles come from many sources, such as transportation, power plants, agriculture, waste incineration and industry – as well as from natural sources such as desert dust.  The developing world has been hit hard: India had high PM10 levels, while China had high PM2.5 levels, the database showed.
“Particles, especially PM2.5, are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke) and respiratory effects,” the WHO said.  “There is emerging evidence that the particles affect other organs and cause other diseases.”
The findings underscore the enormous scale of change that is needed to combat air pollution, said Anumita Roychowdhury, an air pollution expert at the Center for Science and the Environment, a research organization based in New Delhi.
India and the world need to prepare for major changes to try to reduce air pollution, including the use of electric vehicles, the removal of fossil fuels, the massive escalation of green energy and the separation of types of waste.
The Energy, Environment and Water Council, a New Delhi-based think tank, found that more than 60% of India’s PM2.5 cargo comes from households and industries.  Tanushree Ganguly, who leads the council’s air quality program, called for action to reduce emissions from industry, cars, biomass combustion and domestic energy.
“We must prioritize access to clean energy for the households that need it most and take active measures to clean up our industrial sector,” he said.
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Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this exhibition