Research on Air Pollution in the City Has Been Deadly, Jakarta is on the List

News24xx.com - Nearly 90 percent of the 200 cities hit by the highest levels of deadly micro pollution in the world are in China and India, with most of the rest in Pakistan and Indonesia, researchers reported Tuesday.

Taking into account the population, Bangladesh emerged as the worst PM2.5 pollution country, followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India, according to the World Quality Quality Report 2019, jointly released by IQAir Group and Greenpeace.

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Particulate material with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less - about 1/30 the width of a human hair - is the most dangerous type of air pollution.

Microscopic spots are small enough to enter the bloodstream through the respiratory system, causing asthma, lung cancer and heart disease.

Among the major cities in the world of 10 million or more people, the most toxic PM2.5 in 2019 is the Indian capital of New Delhi, followed by Lahore in Pakistan, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Kolkata in India, Linyi and Tianjin in China , and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Next on the list is Wuhan - the center of the spread of the new corona virus - along with Chengdu and Beijing.

The IQAir report is based on data from nearly 5,000 cities around the world.

Most of the seven million premature deaths caused by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to air pollution are caused by PM2.5 particles, originating from sandstorms, agriculture, industry, forest fires and especially burning fossil fuels.

"Air pollution is the leading environmental health threat in the world," IQAir CEO Frank Hammes said. "Ninety percent of the global population breathes in insecure air."
 
China's average urban PM2.5 concentration fell 20 percent in 2018 and 2019, but last year there were still 117 of the 200 most polluted cities in the world.

All but two percent of Chinese cities exceed WHO guidelines for the PM2.5 level, while 53 percent exceed less strict national safety limits.

The United Nations says the density of PM2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter (25 mcg / m3) of air in a 24 hour period. China has set the standard at 35 mcg / m3.

More than one million premature deaths in China each year are caused by air pollution, according to WHO. The latest calculations put the victim at twice the number.

In a large number of northern India and north-central China, meeting WHO year-round standards for PM2.5 pollution will increase life expectancy by up to six or seven years, according to the Air Quality Life Index, developed by researchers at the Chicago Energy Policy Institute.

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In India, small particle pollution exceeds the WHO limit of 500 percent, even if air pollution in general dropped significantly last year, with 98 percent of the cities monitored showing an increase.

Among clubs from 36 rich OECD countries, South Korea is the most polluted PM2.5, including 105 of the 1,000 worst cities in the index. In Europe, Poland and Italy count 39 and 31 cities respectively, at this stage.

Other parts of the world such as Africa and the Middle East do not have data.

"What cannot be measured cannot be managed," Hammes said. "Africa, a continent of 1.3 billion people, currently has fewer than 100 monitoring stations that make PM2.5 data publicly available in real time."

By 2018, China alone had more than 1,000 such stations in 200 cities.

Climate change has begun to increase the health risks of PM2.5 pollution, mainly through forest fires and sand storms which are getting worse by spreading desertification, according to the report.

Global warming and PM2.5 also have the same main drivers: burning coal, oil and gas.

While the relationship with lung cancer has been well established, a recent study showed that most deaths from air pollution are caused by heart attacks, strokes and other types of cardiovascular disease.

Smaller and larger particles, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) have also been linked to decreased cognitive performance, labor productivity and educational outcomes.

Of the cities with more than one million people, the least affected by PM2.5 are Adelaide, Helsinki, Stockholm, and San Jose in central California, followed by Perth and Melbourne in Australia, and Calgary in Canada, and New York.

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