Air Pollution Policies and Guidelines

Ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year in 2019; this mortality is due to exposure to fine particulate matter, which causes cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and cancers.

WHO estimates that in 2019, some 37% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and stroke, 18% and 23% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute lower respiratory infections respectively, and 11% of deaths were due to cancer within the respiratory tract.

Reference:

//www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

Pollution is harmful to our health and the environment around us. It leads to various multiple health conditions and premature deaths of infants. Besides affecting health, pollution is a leading cause of loss of biodiversity and disturbance in the food web. It reduces the ability of ecosystems to provide services such as carbon sequestration and decontamination.

On 12 May 2021, the European Commission came out with the 'Zero Pollution action plan'. Among various targets, one of the targets is to improve air quality in order to reduce the premature deaths caused by air pollution by 55%. Also, the target is set to reduce the effects of air pollution on biodiversity by 25%.

To achieve these targets, the EU has placed limits apply to airborne substances like- sulfur dioxide, fine particulates, nitrogen dioxide, lead, benzene, and carbon monoxide. The targets are also applied to ozone, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and benzo(a)pyrene. The states need to keep the level of such substances under the limits set by the EU Commission. 

Addressing air pollution, which is the second highest risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, is key to protecting public health.Most sources of outdoor air pollution are well beyond the control of individuals and this demands concerted action by local, national and regional level policy-makers working in sectors like energy, transport, waste management, urban planning and agriculture.

To support reducing air pollution levels and to protect populations from health
risks, WHO’s Air Quality and Health Unit works in three cross-cutting areas:
1. knowledge, evidence and measuring progress
2. institutional capacity building and technical support
3. leadership and coordination.
Member States and sub-national entities are typically responsible for the implementation and
monitoring of policies to promote air quality for health.

The Central Government has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) under the Central Sector “Control of Pollution” Scheme as a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations by 2024.

The Central Government has notified a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) in 2018 identifying timelines and implementing agencies for actions identified for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi and NCR.

//www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

//pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1593056#:~:text=The%20Central%20Government%20has%20launched,reduction%20in%20PM10%20and

Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

Ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year in 2019; this mortality is due to exposure to fine particulate matter, which causes cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and cancers.

WHO estimates that in 2019, some 37% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and stroke, 18% and 23% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute lower respiratory infections respectively, and 11% of deaths were due to cancer within the respiratory tract.

People living in low- and middle-income countries disproportionately experience the burden of outdoor air pollution with 89% (of the 4.2 million premature deaths) occurring in these areas. The greatest burden is found in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions. The latest burden estimates reflect the significant role air pollution plays in cardiovascular illness and death.

The WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) offer global guidance on thresholds and limits for key air pollutants that pose health risks. These guidelines are of a high methodological quality and are developed through a transparent, evidence-based decision-making process. In addition to the guideline values, the WHO Global air quality guidelines provide interim targets to promote a gradual shift from high to lower concentrations.

The guidelines also offer qualitative statements on good practices for the management of certain types of particulate matter (PM), for example black carbon/elemental carbon, ultra fine particles, and particles originating from sand and dust storms, for which there is insufficient quantitative evidence to derive AQG levels.

Reference:-

//www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

GOI initiated rules and regulations and program related to reduce the air pollution and improve the air quality since 1980s.ComprehensiveAction Plan ,Graded response Action Plan, etc. were introduced. Activities engaging general population were conducted. According to the latest CSE report, the current practice of keeping the focus only on selected cities without considering the larger urban and regional landscape can limit the effectiveness of the NCAP program and resource investment. The current mandate of developing state action plans has to be refined to ensure the regional approach is initiated for a wider impact.

In my opinion, its high time to work on the potential causes of generating particulate matter, Green house gases and other air pollutants in the scenario of alarming global warming and climate change.

Some of the potential causes are stubble burning in the west-northern side of the country but at the same time the dust from the construction and road transport  in the southern region. Lack of clean vehicles are common across the country 

Address the causes  at region wise ,decentralization of the act, enforcement such as charging criminal prosecution to the individual polluter, intersectoral  coordination etc. should be considered.

//timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/how-national-clean-air-plan-has-failed-to-make-a-dent/articleshow/94036802.cms

Air pollution is a major planetary health risk, with India estimated to have some of the worst levels globally. To inform action at subnational levels in India, we estimated the exposure to air pollution and its impact on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy in every state of India in 2017India had 18% of the global population in 2017, but had 26% of global DALYs attributable to air pollution. A substantial 8% of the total disease burden in India and 11% of premature deaths in people younger than 70 years could be attributed to air pollution. We estimated that 1·24 million deaths in India in 2017 could be attributed to air pollution, including 0·67 million to ambient particulate matter pollution and 0·48 million to household air pollution.  There are additional diseases attributable to air pollution that are currently not being included in the estimates of deaths attributable to air pollution in GBD, leading to underestimation of the health impact of air pollution.

Ref - India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Air Pollution Collaborators. The impact of air pollution on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy across the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet Planet Health. 2019 Jan;3(1):e26-e39. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30261-4. Epub 2018 Dec 6. PMID: 30528905; PMCID: PMC6358127.

Air pollution is the contamination of the indoor and outdoor environments by any physical, chemical and biological agents that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. The main sources of air pollution are household combustion devices, motor vehicles, forest fires and industrial facilities.

Clean air is fundamental to health. Exposure of air pollution leads to both morbidity and mortality so that it becomes the global health risk factors like unhealthy diets and tobacco usage. Pollutants of public health concerns are PM, ozone, CO, H2S and N2O. Because both outdoor and indoor air pollution can cause respiratory and other diseases and important sources of morbidity and mortality.

As per the reasons mentioned above, air pollution policies and guidelines become crucial to tackle the air pollution problems across the world for prevention, control and mitigation. There are many ways undertaken for abatement like action plans by central government and air quality control guidelines by WHO.

According to the information provided by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, the following action plans were undertaken:

the central government has launched (National Clean Air Program) NCAP under central sector called Control of Air Pollution Scheme as a long-term, time-bound and national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in PM10 & PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as a base year for the comparison of concentration;

the central government has also notified Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) in 2018 identifying timelines & implementing agencies for actions identified for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi and NCR;

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was notified on January 12, 2017, for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution in Delhi & NCR. In addition, several steps have also been taken for public awareness like SAMEER application, education about environment. Apart from the action plans, air quality policies like National Air Quality Policy, so called Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution Act) 1981 was conducted. To sum up, some improvements have been made by regulatory measures and actions. However, air pollution control is a long-term approach and it is essential for awareness of the public and active participation to get interim target leading to end targets.

Clean air is one of the basic requirement for good human health and wellbeing of the humanity. Air pollution continues to be a well-known environmental problem worldwide. It can pose a serious threat to human health
To improve air quality and enhance economic and social development, India has issued a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for annual PM2.5 concentrations of 40 μg/m3.

Reference:- //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019309523

//scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=air+pollution+policy+and+guidelines+in+india&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1681661881770&u=%23p%3DfGE0GGKROowJ

Air pollution is one of the second highest risk factors for non-communicable diseases that need to reduce lower the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. Around the globe, annually 6.7 million premature deaths occurred due to the combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution. Different types of air pollutants harm our health if not reduced in the atmospheric environment such as Particulate matter (PM), Carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), etc. To reduce these pollutants, we need to exercise local, national, and regional level policies in the different sectors such as industry, energy, power generation, transport, waste management, urban planning, and agriculture. The WHO Global air quality guidelines (AQG) provide global guidance on thresholds and limit for key air pollutants that penetrate health risks. The WHO’s Air Quality and Health Unit focused on three cross-cutting areas for reducing air pollution levels and protecting populations from health risks. 

• Knowledge, evidence, and measuring progress, 
• Institutional capacity building and technical support, 
• Leadership and coordination.

Air Quality and Health Unit helps to advocate and support policy and technical initiatives to prevent the health impact of air pollution such as the urban health Initiative (UHI), 

  Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEP), Breathe life 

References

//www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/about

//www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

The day-by-day deteriorating quality of air and environment has necessitated a well-planned strategy to mitigate the menace of air pollution. It required proper understanding of causes, impacts, and control of air pollution. This indicates need of envisaging new rules/regulations along with pollution control standards must be enacted and implemented honestly to protect plants/vegetation from air pollution and climate change.

Ref:

//link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-1201-3_12#:~:text=The%20Air%20Pollution%20Control%20Act,government%20in%20controlling%20air%20pollution.  

Based on recent survey data from 195 nations, the paper, Actions on air quality: a global summary of policies and projects to reduce air pollution, was created. It evaluates programmes and policies in important industries that produce air pollution, including transportation, electricity production, manufacturing, solid waste management, household air pollution, and agriculture. It also considers air quality regulations, management, and monitoring as important policy tools for reducing the effects of air pollution.

National ambient air quality standards were discovered in 124 nations (about two-thirds) as of 2020, which is 17 more than was initially reported in 2016. But only 9% of these abide by the restrictions set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.

Reference: //www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/governments-are-increasingly-adopting-policies-air-quality

@khu-shboo-solanki very interesting to-dos, could you provide more w.r.t air pollution?