By Hauwa Ali
Despite the fact that the right to a healthy environment is legally recognised in almost all countries, “Yet, air quality continues to deteriorate despite the increase in laws and regulations seeking to address air pollution”, UNEP chief Inger Andersen said in the foreword to the Global Assessment of Air Pollution Legislation (GAAPL).
Air pollutants are everywhere, largely caused either by burning fossil fuels for electricity, transportation and heating, as well as from industrial activities, poor waste management and agricultural practices.
Air pollutants are present both inside homes and outside and is responsible for the premature death of About seven million people each year, including 600,000 children, as every five seconds, somebody around the world dies prematurely as a result.
“Air pollution is a deadly, man-made problem, responsible for the early deaths of some seven million people every year, around 600,000 of whom are children. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the world’s population breathe polluted air.” A report from United Nations said.
A Research published in Science Advances reveals rapid degradation in air quality and urban exposure to air pollutants, hazardous to health.
Across all cities examined in the study, the authors found significant annual increases in pollutants directly hazardous to health of up to 14% for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and up to 8% for fine particles (PM2.5), as well as increases in precursors of PM2.5 of up to 12% for ammonia and 11% for reactive volatile organic compound.
NO2 is a common urban pollutant and precursor of particulate matter and ozone while PM2.5 pollutants originate mainly from human activities related to fossil fuel combustion.
The researchers attributed this rapid degradation in air quality to emerging industries and residential sources like road traffic, waste burning, an widespread use of charcoal and fuel wood.
The scientists also found 1.5- to 4- increase in urban population exposure to air pollution over the study period in 40 of the 46 cities for NO2 and 33 of the 46 cities for PM2.5 caused by a combination of population growth and rapid deterioration in air quality.
According to the study, the increase in the number of premature deaths from exposure to air pollution was highest in cities in south Asia, particularly Dharka, Bangladesh (about 24,000 deaths) and indian cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Surat, Pune and Ahmedabad (totaling 100,000 deaths).
The researchers say that while the number of deaths in tropical cities in Africa are currently lower due to recent improvements in health care across the continent resulting in a decline in overall premature mortality, the worst effects of air pollution on health will likely occur in the coming decades.
This has prompted the United nations to conclude that an astonishing 99 per cent of the world’s population breathes polluted air that exceeds internationally approved limits, with negative health impacts kicking in at much lower levels than previously thought.
The evidence base for the damage air pollution does to the human body has been growing rapidly and points to significant harm caused by even low levels of many air pollutants.
Particulate matter, especially PM2.5, is capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and entering the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke) and respiratory impacts. There is emerging evidence that particulate matter impacts other organs and causes other diseases as well.
NO2 is associated with respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and visits to emergency rooms
As depressing and as dangerous as this situation is, the UN health agency insists that momentum has been growing for better air quality everywhere in the last decade due to the fact that more than 6,000 cities in 117 countries now monitor air quality, compared to 1,100 cities in 91 countries a decade ago
According to the WHO, low and middle-income countries still experience greater exposure to unhealthy levels of particulate matter compared to the global average, but nitrogen dioxide patterns “are different, showing less difference between high and low and middle-income countries”
The agency’s data indicates that 4.2 million people die from exposure to outdoor air pollution, in addition to the 3.8 million whose deaths are linked to household smoke produced by dirty stoves and fuels.
And based on WHO’s mathematical modelling of available air pollution data from 80 per cent of the world’s urban areas, it indicates that almost every one of us faces an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, lung disease, cancer and pneumonia.
An independent UN expert said that the failure of governments across the world to ensure clear air, constitutes a “violation of the rights to life, health and well-being, as well as the right to live in a healthy environment
Shifting to renewable energy could save up to 150 million lives by the end of the century amid concerns that six billion people regularly inhale air “so polluted that it puts their life, health and well-being at risk”, a UN-appointed independent rights expert said.
The UN agency also urge more governments to take note that it has made significant revisions to its air quality indicators, including for particulate matter – known as PM2.5 – that can enter the bloodstream, along with nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another common urban pollutant and precursor of particulate matter.
Governments must take rapid intensified actions to improve air quality.
Governments must adopt or revise and implement national air quality standards according to the latest WHO Air Quality Guidelines; monitor air quality and identify sources of air pollution; support the transition to exclusive use of clean household energy for cooking, heating and lighting; build safe and affordable public transport systems and pedestrian- and cycle-friendly networks; implement stricter vehicle emissions and efficiency standards; enforce mandatory inspection and maintenance for vehicles; invest in energy-efficient housing and power generation; improve industry and municipal waste management and reduce agricultural waste incineration, forest fires and certain agro-forestry activities (e.g. charcoal production).
