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WHO says air pollution kills 7 mn a year, toughens guidelines
14 Sept 01:50 Key points summarised by AI
- The World Health Organization (WHO) significantly strengthened its air quality guidelines, identifying air pollution as a top environmental health threat causing seven million premature deaths annually.
- The updated guidelines drastically lower acceptable levels for six key pollutants, including halving the PM2.5 limit, based on new evidence showing health impacts at much lower concentrations than previously understood.
- WHO emphasizes that air pollution's health burden is comparable to smoking and unhealthy eating, leading to severe issues from reduced lung growth in children to heart disease and stroke in adults, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries.
- These new global standards aim to protect public health and support climate change mitigation efforts, serving as a critical reference for governments to implement legally-binding air quality regulations.
