Particulate air pollution is a risk to human health by UN News, OHCHR, Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) 6:21am 18th May, 2023   Air pollution is a major environmental threat and one of the main cases of death among all risk factors.    The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, globally, air pollution is responsible for about 7 million premature deaths per year from ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, but also from acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia which mainly affects children in low- and middle-income countries.    Being recognized as one of the main risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases, a growing and consistent body of evidence shows that air pollution health effects also include preterm and low-birthweight, asthma as well as cognitive and neurological impairment basically having the potential to impact our whole body, way beyond our lungs.    Particulate Matter Pollution comes in many sizes and can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals. Particle pollution includes inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller; and fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.    Particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter can get deep into your lungs and enter your bloodstream, particles less than 2.5 micrometers also known as fine particles pose a serious risk to human health.    Particulate Matter Pollution can be emitted directly from a source, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, smokestacks or fires. Most particles form in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants emitted from power plants, industries and motor vehicles.    Accurately measuring particulate air pollution levels, providing adequate public health warnings, regulating major sources of air pollution are among the measures taken to address air pollution. Policies and investments supporting cleaner transport, energy efficient homes, power generation, industry and better municipal waste management would reduce key sources of outdoor air pollution.    Aug. 2023    Air Pollution and its threat to Health are unequally spread throughout the World. (AQLI)    As global pollution edged upward in 2021, so did its burden on human health, according to new data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).    If the world were to permanently reduce fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline, the average person could add 2.3 years onto their life expectancy—or a combined 17.8 billion life-years saved worldwide.    The data makes clear that particulate pollution remains one of the world’s greatest external risks to human health. Yet, the pollution challenge worldwide is vastly unequal.    “Three-quarters of air pollution’s worst impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air they breathe,” says Michael Greenstone, Professor in Economics at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).    “For the last five years, the AQLI’s local information on air quality and its health consequences has generated substantial media and political coverage, but there is an opportunity to complement this annual information with more frequent daily and locally generated data.”    Many polluted countries lack basic air pollution infrastructure. Asia and Africa are the two most poignant examples. They contribute 92.7 percent of life years lost due to pollution. Yet, just 6.8 and 3.7 percent of governments in Asia and Africa, respectively, provide their citizens with fully open air quality data. Further, just 35.6 and 4.9 percent of countries in Asia and Africa, respectively, have air quality standards—the most basic building block for policies. The current investments in global air quality infrastructure does not match its toll on human life.    “Timely, reliable, open air quality data in particular can be the backbone of civil society and government clean air efforts—providing the information that people and governments lack and that allows for more informed policy decisions,” says Christa Hasenkopf, the director of AQLI and air quality programs at EPIC.    South Asia    In no other location on the planet is the deadly impact of pollution more visible than in South Asia, home to the four most polluted countries in the world and nearly a quarter of the global population.    In Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, the AQLI data reveal that residents are expected to lose about 5 years off their lives on average if the current high levels of pollution persist, and more in the most polluted regions. In the densely populated New Delhi, the world’s most polluted megacity, the average life span is down by more than 10 years.    China    Although the challenge of reducing air pollution across the world may seem daunting, China has had remarkable success, reducing pollution by 42.3 percent since 2013, the year before the country began a “war against pollution.” Due to these improvements, the average Chinese citizen can expect to live 2.2 years longer, provided the reductions are sustained. However, the pollution in China is still six times higher than the WHO guideline, taking 2.5 years off life expectancy.    Southeast Asia    Like South Asia, almost all of Southeast Asia (99.9 percent) is now considered to have unsafe levels of pollution, with pollution increasing in a single year by as much as 25 percent in some regions. Residents living in the most polluted parts of Southeast Asia are expected to lose 2 to 3 years of life expectancy on average.    Central and West Africa    While Asian countries rightly receive the most media coverage about extreme levels of air pollution, the African countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Republic of Congo are amongst the ten most polluted countries in the world. In the most polluted areas of these regions, pollution levels are 12 times the WHO guideline and taking as much as 5.4 years off lives—becoming as much of a health threat as well-known killers in the region like HIV/AIDS and malaria.    Latin America    While average air quality is at an unsafe but relatively low level across the region, the most polluted areas—located within Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru—experience air quality similar to pollution hotspots like Pune, India and Harbin, China. In these regions, the average resident would gain 3 to 4.4 years of life expectancy if their air quality met the WHO guideline.    United States    In the United States, Americans are exposed to 64.9 percent less particulate pollution than in 1970—prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act—and they’re living 1.4 years longer because of it. Yet, 96 percent of the country still doesn’t meet the WHO guideline. In 2021, 20 out of the top 30 most polluted counties were in California due to the impact of wildfires.    Europe    In Europe, residents are exposed to about 23.5 percent less pollution than they were in 1998, soon after the Air Quality Framework Directive started, gaining 4.5 months of life expectancy because of it. Yet, 98.4 percent of Europe still doesn’t meet the WHO guideline. Residents in eastern Europe are living 7.2 months less than their western neighbors due to dirtier air.    http://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/reports/ http://www.un.org/en/observances/clean-air-day/messages http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1140447 http://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/health-impacts http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/global-heatwaves-are-worsening-air-pollution-underscoring-the-urgent-need-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels/ http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/16/from-cholera-to-kidney-disease-10-ways-the-climate-crisis-is-wrecking-peoples-lives-acc http://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/earth-had-hottest-three-month-period-record-unprecedented-sea-surface http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/reporting-state-climate-2022 http://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/climate-change-undermines-nearly-all-sustainable-development-goals    Sep. 2023    Systematic pollution of freshwater affects the human right to water for billions of people worldwide. (OHCHR)    The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water has urged Governments and all actors, including the private sector, to make “peace with our rivers” to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation for two billion people worldwide.    In his report to the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation noted that the contamination of aquatic ecosystems with heavy metals and other toxics from legal and illegal mining and other production activities continues to increase on all continents. People living in poverty, near polluted freshwater sources are most vulnerable, he said.    “Wetlands, rivers, and lakes are the backbone of life on islands and continents,” the Special Rapporteur said. “For centuries, underground aquifers have been the natural water supply network for human settlements – the water lungs of nature,” he said.    “I am deeply concerned that over-exploitation, land grabbing, and toxic contamination of aquatic ecosystems threatens the sustainability of freshwater resources and the human rights of billions of people,” Arrojo-Agudo said.    The expert urged the international community to introduce a specific crime to punish the systematic toxic pollution of aquatic ecosystems that poisons hundreds of millions of people and hold perpetrators accountable.    Arrojo-Agudo said the root cause of the crisis lies in the unsustainability of the current development model, which is based on the paradigm of domination over nature. He called for a new model of environmental regeneration based on sustainability and a human rights-based approach to water governance.    “Biological, organic and nutrient pollution kills 1.8 million people a year from diarrhoea alone,” he said. “The recognition of the human right to a healthy and sustainable environment, the promotion of integrated ecosystem approaches and the acceptance of the rights of nature pave the way for a more sustainable future,” the expert said.    “Restoring and conserving aquatic ecosystems is critical to fulfilling the human right to water and sanitation for all,” he said.    http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/systematic-pollution-freshwater-affects-human-right-water-billions-people    Sep. 2023    Researchers in Japan have discovered microplastics in clouds, raising the specter of super-contaminating "plastic rainfall" and potential impacts to the Earth's climate.    Analyzing cloud water samples from high-altitude mountains in Japan including Mt. Fuji, researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo found nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastics (AMPs) they detected.    "Research shows that large amounts of microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals alike and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and feces," notes the summary of the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.    "These findings confirm that AMPs play a key role in rapid cloud formation, which may eventually affect the overall climate," they added.    Accumulation of AMPs in the atmosphere could also upset the planet's ecological balance, with devastating effects on biodiversity.    "AMPs are degraded much faster in the upper atmosphere than on the ground due to strong ultraviolet radiation, and this degradation releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming," Waseda University professor Hiroshi Okochi, who led the study, said in a statement. "As a result, the findings of this study can be used to account for the effects of AMPs in future global warming projections."    "If the issue of 'plastic air pollution' is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future," Okochi added.    "Ten million tons of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere," the summary continues. "This implies that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via 'plastic rainfall.'"    http://www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/78501 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-023-01626-x    June 2023    UN experts warn of “toxic tidal wave” as plastic pollutes environment and threatens human rights. (OHCHR)    The world must beat the toxic tidal wave of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, UN experts said today, urging States and other stakeholders to put rights at the centre of the international treaty on plastic pollution currently under negotiation. Ahead of World Environment Day, they issued the following joint statement:    “Plastic production has increased exponentially over recent decades and today the world is generating 400 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly.    All stages of the plastics cycle have adverse impacts on human rights. We are in the middle of an overwhelming toxic tidal wave as plastic pollutes our environment and negatively impacts human rights in a myriad of ways over its life cycle.    For example, plastic production releases hazardous substances and almost exclusively relies on fossil fuels, while plastic itself contains toxic chemicals, posing serious risks and harms to human health, human rights and the environment. At the end of its life as a consumer good, plastic waste pollutes our planet, with 85% of single use plastics sent to landfills or dumped in the environment. False and misleading solutions, such as incineration or recycling of toxics-laden plastics, aggravate the plastic threat.    Plastic, microplastic and the hazardous substances they contain can be found in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.    While everyone is affected by the negative human rights impacts of plastic, the level of exposure to plastic-related pollution and waste affects marginalised communities the most. We are particularly concerned about groups suffering from environmental injustices due to heightened exposure to plastic pollution, many of them living in 'sacrifice zones'.    The contribution of plastic pollution to climate change is alarming, yet often overlooked. For instance, plastic particles found in oceans limit the ability of marine ecosystems to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.    It is shocking to witness how the omnipresence of plastics impacts human rights in many different ways, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, water and an adequate standard of living.    States and businesses have specific human rights obligations which apply in the context of the fight against plastics pollution.    Over the last two years, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly adopted landmark resolutions recognising the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which includes non-toxic environments where people can live, work, study and play. This should prompt and guide initiatives addressing plastic pollution.    There is an urgent need to prioritise reduction in production and use of plastic, detoxification and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.    We note the discussions taking place by member States towards a comprehensive and internationally binding instrument on plastic pollution and urge its completion by the end of 2024. It is essential that States and other stakeholders employ a human rights-based approach to beat plastic pollution.”    *The experts: David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Marcos Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights.    http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/un-experts-warn-toxic-tidal-wave-plastic-pollutes-environment-and-threatens http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/05/opening-remarks-united-nations-special-rapporteur-toxics-and-human-rights-marcos http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/10/plastic-pandemic-time-running-out-prevent-human-rights-tragedy-un-expert http://ipen.org/news/latest-science-shows-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-plastics-pesticides-and-other-sources-pose
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