Air pollution

The European Union has now adopted the Ambient Air Quality Directive, which is a move closer to the WHO standards. Though some steps remain before it is fully aligned.

New data reveals synergistic impact of heatwaves and air pollution on mortality. The good news is that these two challenges can be addressed through unified strategies.

More consistent pollution control, increasing the scope to include mines and battery manufacturers and and enabling victims of illegal polltution to seek compensation are some of the wins, when the revised Industrial emissions directive entered into force.

Ammonia emissions have only fallen by 16% since 2005. Some Member States have even seen increases, making ammonia a key challenge moving forward.

In Germany, action taken against the Federal State by Deutsche Umwelthilfe, found that the National Air Pollution Control Program ... 

Report shows that the majority of air pollution policies in 2022 and 2023 have targeted NOx emissions, but there is also more focus on PM2.5 and ammonia compared to previously.

The EU Commission has sent formal notice under Article 260 TFEU to Hungary for failing to comply with a 2021 judgement on PM10 exceedances ...

Taiwan is tightening its standards for PM2.5. The Ministry of Environment in Taiwan will adjust its PM2.5 target from 15 to 12 micrograms per cubic metre. The change is based on the findings of an eight-year study ...

The European Parliament approved a deal on the revised Euro 7 emissions rules for cars, trucks, and buses in March. However, the decision remains controversial, with stakeholders divided on whether it goes too far or not far enough in combating emissions.

A recent German study found that children who spent their time in the womb and their first year of life in low emission zones experienced a 13% reduction in asthma medication prescriptions by their fifth birthday.

In the recent Global Burden of Disease, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8% of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure and smoking.

On 11 April 2024, the Our Common Air Commission launched a call for global financial institutions to invest in clean air programmes. Our Common Air is a global commission of high-level government figures, renowned health experts ...

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.

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).

Under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) the Gothenburg Protocol has been reviewed in terms of effectiveness.