WHO Guidelines Estimate Urban Air Pollution Causes 530,000 Deaths in Asian Cities Annually

YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA - Under recently issued World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guideline levels, the estimate of premature deaths caused by urban air pollution has been revised upwards to over 750,000 globally, including more than 530,000 in Asia, WHO expert Dr. Michal Krzyzanowski said at a media briefing here today.

Dr. Krzyzanowski, together with Bob O’Keefe and Sumi Mehta, of the Health Effects Institute, discussed the impact upon Asia of the WHO Guidelines that were released in October 2006. The Guidelines were developed after worldwide consultation with more than 80 leading scientists and are based on a review of thousands of recent studies from all regions, including recent studies of Asian populations.

As such, they present the most widely agreed-upon and up-to-date assessment of the health effects of air pollution. They also recommend targets for air quality which, if met, will significantly reduce health risks.

These targets call for dramatically lower levels of pollution than are observed in most Asian cities today. In many Asian cities, the average annual levels of PM10 (a main source of which is the combustion of fossil and other types of fuels) exceed 70 micrograms per cubic metre. The new Guidelines say that these levels should be lower than 20 micrograms per cubic metre. WHO believes that reducing levels of one particular type of pollutant (known as PM10) could lower the number of deaths in polluted cities by as much as 15% every year. The Guidelines also substantially lower the recommended limits of ozone and sulphur dioxide.

“The evidence reviewed by WHO confirms the severity of the impacts of pollution on health and calls for immediate action to cut people’s exposure to air pollutants in Asian cities,” said Dr Krzyzanowski.

In addition to citing new estimates of mortality, Dr Krzyzanowski identified a series of recommended interventions and other strategies aimed at reducing levels of urban air pollution in Asia. These include reducing emissions from transport, industrial and residential combustion sources. He also gave examples documenting the beneficial impacts on health of reducing pollution.

WHO stressed its commitment to assist Asian nations’ mitigation efforts by developing strengthened capacity in environmental health risk assessment and a commitment to work with partners at the national level to evaluate their current standards in relation to the new guidelines.

Dr Krzyzanowski credited the Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA) program, an initiative of the Health Effects Institute, with publishing a new resource for policy makers, the first ever compendium of over 270 Asian studies of the effects of air pollution, and with fostering the development and communication of new Asian science studies to inform WHO and Asian decision-makers at local and regional levels.

Media enquiries to Cornie Huizenga at chuizenga@adb.org or Ian Gill, BAQ media coordinator, at iajgill@gmail.com

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