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Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern include ...
Русский. Español. New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood. The guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations, by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which ...
WHO monitors the exposure of air pollution and its health impacts (deaths, DALYs) at the national, regional and global level from ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution. Such estimates are used for official reporting like the world health statistics, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Air Pollution Data Portal includes Burden of Disease statistics, air quality databases and ...
Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death. Pollution causes more than 9 million premature deaths, the majority of them due to air pollution. That’s several times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Global health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are reminders of the strong ...
A World Bank report estimated that the cost of the health damage caused by air pollution amounts to $8.1 trillion a year, equivalent to 6.1% of global GDP. Poor people, elderly people, and young children who come from poor families are the most affected and the least likely to be able to cope with the health impacts that come with air pollution.
Almost the entire global population (99%) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, and threatens their health. A record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, with people in low and middle-income countries suffering the highest ...
How air pollution affects our body. Particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less (≤ PM 10) can penetrate and lodge deep inside the lungs, causing irritation, inflammation and damaging the lining of the respiratory tract. Smaller, more health-damaging particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (≤ PM 2.5 – 60 of them make up the ...
Air pollution is a major environmental threat and one of the main cases of death among all risk factors, ranking just below hypertension, tobacco smoking and high glucose. WHO estimates that, globally, air pollution is responsible for about 7 million premature deaths per year from ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, but also from acute ...
Pollutants not only severely impact public health, but also the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally. Most policies to reduce air pollution offer a “win-win” strategy for both health and climate. Lower levels of air pollution result in better cardiovascular and respiratory health of populations in both the long- and short-term. Reducing ambient and household air pollution can also ...
Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is estimated to have caused 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2019. Some 89% of those premature deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest number in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions. Policies and investments supporting cleaner transport, energy efficient homes ...