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WHO issues new, lower Global Air Quality Guidelines for classical pollutants

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New WHO has issued new Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) that reduce levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change. Since WHO’s last 2005 global update, there has been a marked increase of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of health. Source: WHO.

Pollution 435
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Modeling study suggests 1.8M excess deaths attributable to urban air pollution in 2019

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billion people) are exposed to annual average levels of fine particulate matter exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline from 2005, leading to 1.8 The WHO 2005 guideline for PM 2.5 This has since been updated to the WHO 2021 guideline for PM 2.5 million excess deaths in cities globally in 2019. g) per cubic meter.

Pollution 468
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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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EEA report finds most Europeans in cities still exposed to levels of air pollution exceeding WHO guidelines

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The European Environment Agency’s (EEA’s) “ Air quality in Europe — 2019 report ” shows that almost all Europeans living in cities are still exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the health-based air quality guidelines (AQGs) set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Pollution 170
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Study: air pollution causes 800,000 extra deaths a year in Europe and 8.8 million worldwide

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Air pollution could be causing double the number of excess deaths a year in Europe than has been estimated previously, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal. Air pollution caused twice as many deaths from CVD as from respiratory diseases. The researchers found that air pollution caused an estimated 8.8

Pollution 320
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Study finds half of the world’s population exposed to increasing air pollution

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A team of researchers, led by Professor Gavin Shaddick at the University of Exeter, has shown that, despite global efforts to improve air quality, half of the world’s population is exposed to increasing air pollution. In some regions, sand and desert dust, waste burning and deforestation are additional sources of air pollution.

Pollution 259
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AQLI: new data reveals little progress globally in reducing air pollution over the last two decades

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Particulate air pollution continues to cut global life expectancy by nearly two years as progress in some countries counterbalances worsening air quality in others, according to the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI). High pollution across the entirety of Bangladesh makes it the most polluted country in the world.

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