Fine dust alarm: Above limit value worldwide

Year after year, climate policy is increasingly becoming part of the agenda of politicians worldwide. But still far off is the goal of keeping air pollution as low as possible. Internal combustion vehicles continue to pollute the roads, industry incessantly emits clouds of pollutants into the sky and agriculture is also among the sectors that contribute significantly to the environmental problem. It can no longer be denied that air pollution, especially particulate matter, has serious consequences for human health. According to WHO figures, around seven million people die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution - around 240,000 people in Europe alone in 2020. A study by Monash University in Melbourne (Australia) now sheds light on the extent of the global pollution problem and puts the associated mortality rates into perspective.  

According to the research group led by Yuming Guo, only 0.001 per cent of people would live in places where the recommended annual maximum is not exceeded. The report goes on to say that on a global average, the WHO-recommended daily maximum value for the hazardous particles of the size PM2.5 was exceeded on 70 percent of all days. In other words, the calculated PM2.5 annual average of 32.8 micrograms per cubic metre of air was exceeded almost everywhere. However, some trends can be discerned. For example, the value was highest in China and East Asia with 50 µg/m³ - followed by South Asia with 37.2 µg/m³ and North Africa with 30.1 µg/m³. Only Australia and New Zealand (8.5 µg/m³), together with the rest of Oceania (12.6 µg/m³) and South America (15.6 µg/m³) would be below the WHO threshold, according to the study.  

In the framework of the study, the fine dust pollution could be determined on the basis of measured values from 65 countries and computer models - which reproduce the worldwide transport of substances through the air. A promising approach, which at least provides plausible data for the regions with measuring stations - as Roland Schrödner from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig also comments. However, this does not take into account particles of the size PM1, and even smaller and more dangerous pollutants, which are only a subgroup of the category PM2.5. They, too, together with the equally important chemical composition of the measured particulate matter, should become the object of analysis. Especially if research - the basis of many governments' environmental and climate policies - is to remain active in the fight against climate change.  

In regions like Europe, where different measures have been taken to reduce emissions - for example in the transport sector with diesel driving bans and environmental zones - the overall picture of the environmental situation can actually be painted slightly more positively. From exceeding the limit value on about 60 per cent of days in 2000, the frequency of recorded violations of the recommended daily limit value had decreased by 35 per cent in 2019. Such a development could certainly be supported by more ambitious climate and environmental policies. An environmental policy that, for example, starting with the transport sector, relies more on reducing pollutants - as well as on protective and emergency measures such as low emission zones and driving bans when air pollution factors cannot be completely avoided.  

At the same time, general health would benefit if limits on particulate matter and other pollutants were further reduced by the World Health Organisation and immediately adopted by governments worldwide. Finally, it is clear what role pollution plays in our lives.