The Eastern Mediterranean region tops the “worst” air in the world
Nearly all of the world's population breathes air that does not meet the organization's standards for air quality, the World Health Organization said, calling for more measures to be taken to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which generate respiratory pollutants and lead to millions of preventable deaths annually.
The organization, about six months after tightening its air quality guidelines, released an update to its air quality database on Monday, which relies on information from a growing number of cities, towns and villages around the world.
The organization said that 99% of the world's population breathes lower quality air, which is often full of particles that may penetrate deep into the lungs, enter veins and arteries, and cause diseases.
She added that the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions have the worst in terms of air quality, followed by Africa.
“Having survived the coronavirus, it is unacceptable that there continue to be 7 million preventable deaths, and countless lives lost to healthy years due to air pollution,” says Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization.
The database, which traditionally consists of two types of particulate matter known as PM10 and PM2.5, included for the first time ground-based measurements of nitrogen dioxide.
The latest version of the database was released in 2018.
Particulate matter of nitrogen dioxide arises from the burning of anthropogenic fuels such as vehicle exhaust, and is more common in urban areas.
The World Health Organization says that exposure to nitrogen dioxide may lead to respiratory diseases such as asthma, and symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, and may increase the number of cases that require hospitalization and emergency rooms.
Particulate matter of nitrogen dioxide was found in high concentrations in the eastern Mediterranean region.
These particles come from several sources, such as transportation, power stations, agriculture, waste incineration, and industry, as well as from natural sources such as desert dust.
The database showed that the developing world was particularly hard hit: India had significant levels of PM10, while China had record levels of PM2.5.
The World Health Organization also said that "particulate matter, especially PM2.5, is able to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing damage to the heart, blood vessels, brain and respiratory system. There is new evidence that particles affect other organs." It causes other diseases as well.
These findings highlight the huge scale of changes needed to combat air pollution, said Anumetarushudhury, an air pollution expert at the Center for Science and Environment, a research organization in New Delhi.
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