By tightening limits on harmful pollutants like PM2.5 and NO2 the revised Air Qulaity Directive will significantly improve public health and align closer with WHO guidelines.
“The dose makes the poison” is a basic principle in toxicology. Even drinking water can be lethal if consumed in excessive amounts. For air pollution, the levels considered harmful are often relatively small, measured in micrograms per cubic meter of air. However, exposure is constant as we continuously breathe, and these small ammounts accumulate, leading to diseases and ultimately deaths.
The EU NEC Directive sets national targets to reduce emissions of five key pollutants. Article 13 of the directive mandates a review before the end of 2025.
The US air quality standard for fine particlulate matter is reduced from 12 to 9 μg/m3. This is projected to yield substantial net health benefits, amounting to up to $46 billion by 2032.
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Acid News
Evaluating India's billion dollar battle against air pollution
More than $1 billion in government funding has been allocated to cities, but just 60% has been spent. Only 16 cities have achieved the targeted pollution cuts. What can be done?
The Air Convention Parties have committed to a revision of the Gothenburg Protocol. A recent review report pointed out that despite reductions in emissions, existing measures fall short in safeguarding human health, ecosystems, crop yields, and the climate.
Car-free cities is an opportunity to reduce the health burden in cities. Society need to keep their eyes on the goal and make science-based decisions to get there.
Leading experts are asking medical researchers to ban financial interference between research individuals and institutions and the fossil fuel industry.
When you think about satellites or NASA, you probably think about the universe, black holes, planets, and galaxies far away. But when NASA’s new project, MAIA, is launched in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency next year it will be pointed towards us on Mother Earth and the pollution we have created.
Humans are exposed to inorganic arsenic in drinking water, soil and the air, and to organic arsenic compounds, especially in fish and shellfish. Arsenic occurs in the air bound to particles, mainly in the fine particle fraction, and consists almost exclusively of the more toxic form of inorganic arsenic (As III and As V).
