New Air Quality Guidelines By WHO

The World Health Organization has released new guidelines for air quality. The annual particulate matter 2.5 microns in thickness (PM2.5) was also updated. This updation comes 15 years after the previous one.

On Wednesday, the WHO updated its guidelines for the first time in 15 years. These new guidelines were made keeping in mind, the deteriorating air quality. It is based on scientific evidence and recommends new air quality levels for humans. The guidelines were shared by WHO.

The yearly particulate matter 2.5 microns in thickness (PM2.5) limit was 10 mg/m3 back in 2005, but now it has been reduced to 5 mg/m3, as per the new standards. Likewise, the annual mean for PM10 has been reduced from 40 mg/m3 to 20 mg/m3, and the annual mean for NO2 has been reduced from 40 mg/m3 to 10 mg/m3.

Recently Greenpeace India’s senior climate campaigner Avinash Chanchal spoke on this matter and said that we need to work to solve this crisis. Everyone can see that air pollution and quality have become a major issue now. Many countries do have the resources to come up with renewable energy sources but they choose not to. We keep using oil, coal, and other means that will affect the air quality. It is all political now and doesn’t have to do anything with technology.

Air Quality Guidelines by WHO