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The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a measure used by environmental agencies and other public bodies around the world to measure how clean the air is. The lower the index is, the better the quality of the air. The AQI provides a number which is easy to compare between different pollutants, locations, and time periods.
An increase in air quality index signifies increased air pollution and severe threats to human health. The AQI centres on the health effects that may be experienced within a few days or hours after breathing polluted air. AQI calculations focus on major air pollutants including: particulate matter, ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Particulate matter and ozone pollutants pose the highest risks to human health and the environment.
In contrast, WHO – a branch of the UN – estimated tobacco smoking was responsible for 7.2million deaths globally in 2015. Professor Thomas Munzel, from the University Medical Centre Mainz, a co-author of the study, said: ‘Smoking is avoidable, but air pollution is not.’The scientists behind the study have now called for stricter curbs on tiny PM2.5 particles in the air, which penetrate deep into the lungs when inhaled.
Currently, the average safety limit for PM2.5 particles in the EU is 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air – more than double the WHO recommendation of 10. ‘Many other countries, such as Canada, the US and Australia, use the WHO guideline,’ said Professor Munzel. ‘The EU is lagging a long way behind in this respect.’Professor Jos Lelieveld, co-author of the study, said the poor air quality and dense population was to blame for Europe having a high number of pollution deaths.
Worldwide, air pollution was found to account for 120 extra deaths per 100,000 people per year, according to the findings in the European Heart Journal. The picture was even worse in Europe, with 133 per 100,000 deaths attributed to inhaled pollutant chemicals. Air pollution was thought to cause 40,000 deaths in the UK, where the Government has repeatedly been hauled into court for breaching safe levels. But the recalculated figures estimated toxic air was actually to blame for 64,000 deaths in the UK in 2015, including 17,000 from heart diseases.
Professor Munzel said the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease that can be attributed to air pollution is much higher than expected. Cases of lung and cardiovascular disease were mainly caused by microscopic ‘PM 2.5’ particles that become lodged in lungs and enter the bloodstream. Diesel road vehicles are one of the biggest producers of particulate pollution in developed countries such as the UK.
Other sources of the lethal particles include fossil fuel-burning industrial processes, power plants and domestic heating. The study comes after research last month named and shamed nearly 2,000 places in the UK that break official safety limits for nitrogen dioxide. The harmful gas produced by cars, buses and lorries – particularly diesels – can trigger asthma attacks and cause breathing problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended houses, flats, schools, nurseries and care homes be protected from pollution.