WHO revises air quality guidelines for the first time in more than 15 years
CBSN
The World Health Organization tightened its global air quality guidelines Wednesday in its first revision since 2005. The organization said air pollution is one of the "biggest environmental threats to human health."
"Clean air is fundamental to health," the WHO said. "Compared to 15 years ago, when the previous edition of these guidelines was published, there is now a much stronger body of evidence to show how air pollution affects different aspects of health at even lower concentrations than previously understood."
Under the guidelines, the WHO lowered recommended exposure levels to key pollutants including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM 2.5 and PM 10. They were adjusted to account for the latest evidence that shows the health effects from exposure. The study found PM 2.5 and PM 10 are particularly dangerous, having the ability to travel deep into either the lungs or the bloodstream.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.