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Researchers say world faces air pollution pandemic

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Air pollution is responsible for shortening people’s lives worldwide on a scale far greater than wars and other forms of violence, parasitic and vector-born diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and smoking, according to an open-access study published in Cardiovascular Research. Household air pollution is from the indoor use of solid biofuels.

Pollution 438
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UNICEF: 300M children worldwide breathing air exceeding WHO pollution guidelines by 6x or more

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Almost one in seven of the world’s children, 300 million, live in areas with the most toxic levels of outdoor air pollution—six or more times higher than international guidelines set by the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO)— according to a new UNICEF report. No society can afford to ignore air pollution.

Pollution 150
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Study found highly elevated PM2.5 in pre-COVID-19 subway air in NE US; NYC the worst

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Concentrations in some subway stations suggest that transit workers and commuters may be at increased risk according to US federal environmental and occupational guidelines, depending on duration of exposure. By comparison, aboveground air concentrations for all measured cities averaged just 16 ?g/m g/m 3 , followed by Boston at 140 ?g/m

New York 418
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HEI: 95%+ of world’s population live in areas of unhealthy air

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Seven billion people, more than 95% of the world’s population, lived in areas exceeding the WHO Guideline for healthy air in 2016, according to a new global study. Comparison of 2016 annual average PM 2.5 concentrations to the WHO Air Quality Guideline. Fifty-eight percent lived in areas with PM 2.5 State of Global Air 2018.

Pollution 218
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New study finds gasoline stations vent up to 10x more benzene fumes than previously thought

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Setback distances should be revisited to address temporal variability and pollution controls in vent emissions. By comparison, the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) used an estimate of 0.11 —Hilpert et al. Gasoline vapors contain a number of toxic chemicals—notably benzene, a carcinogen.

Gasoline 365
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ICCT finds growth in shipping in Arctic could increase pollutant emissions 150-600% by 2025 with current fuels

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Comparison of the potential reduction in emissions with the application of lower sulfur 0.5% While that report projected vessel activity, it did not explore the environmental impacts of increased shipping in terms of air emissions or the potential climate impacts from increases in short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon.

Pollution 150
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WHO data: global annual PM10 increased by 6% during recent 3-year period; based on data from 851 cities

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population weighted comparisons in annual mean PM 10 for a three?year Only 12% of the people living in cities reporting on air quality reside in cities where this complies with WHO air quality guideline levels. About half of the urban population being monitored is exposed to air pollution that is at least 2.5 Source: WHO.

Global 239