- About 90% of the world’s population will experience unhealthy air quality in 2022, according to a new report from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.
- IQAir measured air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging PM 2.5 particles in the air.
- According to the report, in 2022 the five most polluted countries were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh.
Commuters walk along a street amid smoky and foggy weather early in the morning in Lahore on January 3, 2023.
Arif Ali | AFP | Getty Images
About 90% of the world’s population will experience unhealthy air quality in 2022, and only six countries will meet the World Health Organization’s recommendations for safe levels of air pollution, according to a new report from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.
IQAir measured air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging PM 2.5 particles in the air. Studies show that exposure to such particles can lead to heart attacks, asthma attacks and premature death. Studies have also linked long-term exposure to PM 2.5 particles to higher Covid-19 death rates.
When the WHO published its first air quality guidelines in 2005, it said the acceptable level of air pollution was less than 10 micrograms per cubic meter. In 2021, the WHO changed its guideline value to less than 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
According to the report, in 2022 the five most polluted countries were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh. The most polluted cities in the world were Lahore, Pakistan; Hotan, China; Bhiwadi, India; Delhi, India; and Peshawar, Pakistan.
Lahore’s air quality deteriorated to 97.4 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2022 from 86.5 the previous year, making it the world’s most polluted city.
According to the report, India and Pakistan have endured the worst air quality in the Central and South Asian region, where more than half of the population lives in areas with PM 2.5 levels around seven times higher than WHO’s suggested levels.
In the United States, the most polluted major cities were Columbus, Ohio, followed by Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis and Dallas. Air quality in Columbus reached 13.1 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2020, making it the most polluted major city in the United States
This year, the Biden administration proposed limiting industrial fine particulate matter pollution from the current 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9-10 micrograms per cubic meter. Some public health advocates criticized the proposal as not going far enough.
According to the report, only six countries reached the WHO’s updated health limits: Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland and New Zealand. The 2022 report used air quality data from more than 30,000 unregulated air quality monitoring stations and air quality sensors in 7,323 cities in 131 countries, territories and territories.
According to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, air pollution is taking more than two years off the average global life expectancy. Sixty percent of particulate air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels.
“Too many people around the world don’t know they’re breathing polluted air,” Greenpeace International senior air quality scientist Aidan Farrow said in a statement.
“Air pollution monitors provide hard data that can inspire communities to demand change and hold polluters to account, but when monitoring is patchy or inequitable, vulnerable communities may be left with no data to act on,” Farrow said.