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In News
- Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a revised Global Air Quality Guidelines announcing more stringent limits for six pollutant categories —particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).
Objective and Need
- Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change.
- Improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation efforts while reducing emissions will, in turn, improve air quality.
- The WHO move sets the stage for eventual shifts in policy in the government towards evolving newer stricter standards.
- It will help Countries in protecting health as well as mitigating global climate change.
Key features of WHO guidelines
- The guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations, by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change.
- These guidelines are not legally binding.
- PM2.5: The upper limit of annual PM2.5 as per the 2005 standards is 10 micrograms per cubic metre. It has now been revised to 5 micrograms per cubic metre.
- The 24-hour ceiling used to be 25 micrograms but has now dropped to 15.
- PM10:The PM10, or particulate matter of size exceeding 10 micrograms, the upper limit is 20 micrograms and has now been revised to 15 whereas the 24-hour value has been revised from 50 to 45 micrograms.
Implications
- These new guidelines will have major implications for public health.
- They provide a practical tool for improving air quality around the world and a robust evidence-based for developing national and local air quality standards.
- It guides legislation and policies, in order to reduce levels of air pollutants and decrease the burden of disease that results from exposure to air pollution across the world.
- On India
- The move doesn’t immediately impact India as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) don’t meet the WHO’s existing standards.
- The government has a dedicated National Clean Air Programme that aims for a 20% to 30% reduction in particulate matter concentrations by 2024 in 122 cities, keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. These are cities that don’t meet the NAAQS when calculated from 2011-2015.
- Standards for a host of chemical pollutants
- India’s NAAQs — last revised in 2009 — specify an annual limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre for PM 10 and 100 for a 24-hour period.
- Similarly, it’s 40 for PM 2.5 annually and 60 for a 24-hour period. There are also standards for a host of chemical pollutants including sulphur dioxide, lead and nitrogen dioxide.
What is Air pollution?
Associated risks
Solutions Provided by WHO Image Courtesy: WHO Steps Taken by Government
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Source: TH
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