U.N. Health Agency Releases Air Quality Guidelines
Newsy
Exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths and affect the health of millions more people each year.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the harmful health effects of air pollution kick in at lower levels than it previously thought, and it is setting a higher bar for policymakers and the public in its first update to its air quality guidelines in 15 years.
The U.N. health agency released its revised Air Quality Guidelines as climate change is a leading topic at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Tuesday that China will no longer fund power plants fired by coal, which generates several of the pollutants covered by the guidelines.
Since the last update of the W.H.O. recommendations, better monitoring and science have cleared up the global picture about the effects of six major air pollutants on human health. According to the agency, 90 percent of the world's people already live in areas with at least one particularly harmful type of pollutant.
