article thumbnail

Studies find global COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly reduced PM2.5 and NO2 pollution, but ozone up

Green Car Congress

Levels of two major air pollutants have been reduced significantly since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant—ground-level ozone—has increased in China, according to new research. Ozone is harmful to humans at ground-level, causing pulmonary and heart disease.

Ozone 291
article thumbnail

Study: ozone levels higher across China than in other countries tracking the air pollutant

Green Car Congress

In China, people breathe ozone-laden air two to six times more often than people in the United States, Europe, Japan, or South Korea, according to a new international study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. 2017 for one ozone metric. 2017 are included.

Ozone 199
article thumbnail

HEI study in Europe finds evidence of health effects at lower levels of air pollution

Green Car Congress

A major new Health Effects Institute (HEI) report presents a study examining associations between exposures to relatively low levels of air pollution and several health outcomes among participants in 22 European cohorts. particle composition. Brunekreef B, Strak M, Chen J, Andersen ZJ, Atkinson R, Bauwelinck M, et al.

Pollution 313
article thumbnail

New study puts air-pollution related deaths in India in 2019 at 1.67 million

Green Car Congress

Air pollution in India resulted 1.67 million deaths in 2019—the largest pollution-related death toll in any country in the world—and also accounted for $36.8 The 2019 death toll attributed to air pollution in India accounted for 17.8% Pollution takes an enormous human toll in India. It is causing 1.67

Pollution 321
article thumbnail

MIT study: half of US deaths related to air pollution are linked to out-of-state emissions

Green Car Congress

More than half of all air-quality-related early deaths in the United States are a result of emissions originating outside of the state in which those deaths occur, MIT researchers report in a paper in the journal Nature. Scientists have long known that pollution observes no boundaries, one of the prime examples being acid rain.

MIT 307
article thumbnail

EPA proposes new heavy-duty truck emissions rules

Green Car Congress

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new, stronger standards to promote clean air and reduce pollution from heavy-duty vehicles and engines starting in model year (MY) 2027. In 2045, the proposed Option 1 would result in total annual monetized ozone- and PM 2.5

EPA 434
article thumbnail

Study associates long-term exposure to air pollution with increasing emphysema

Green Car Congress

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially O 3 (ozone), is significantly associated with increasing emphysema, according to a new study led by the University of Washington, Columbia University and the University at Buffalo. The annual averages of ozone levels in study areas were between about 10 and 25 ppb.

Pollution 223