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The IQAir report claims only seven countries out of 134 met WHO standards for certain air pollutants and that there are still significant gaps in air quality monitoring.
The vast majority of countries analysed in a new air quality report were below World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
The 2023 report by IQAir suggests that the more than 92pc of the 134 countries studied exceeded the annual WHO guideline value of PM2.5 of inhalable particles with very small diameters, which can cause numerous health problems.
The report claims only seven countries met the annual PM2.5 guidelines – Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand. The IQAir report analysed data from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 134 countries.
The report claims these independent air quality monitoring stations reveal disproportional exposure to air pollution among vulnerable and underrepresented groups. IQAir also claims that for the first time in its annual report, Canada was the most polluted country in Northern America.
“A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a universal human right,” said IQAir global CEO Frank Hammes. “In many parts of the world the lack of air quality data delays decisive action and perpetuates unnecessary human suffering.
“Air quality data saves lives. Where air quality is reported, action is taken and air quality improves.”
The report claims that air quality monitoring has steadily increased over the past six years, but that there are still “significant gaps” in government-operated instruments in many parts of the world.
IQAir said low-cost air quality monitors that are hosted by citizen scientists, researchers, community advocates and local organisations are proving to be “valuable tools to reduce gaps in air monitoring networks across the world”.
Aidan Farrow, a senior air quality scientist with Greenpeace International, said the report shows the “international nature and inequitable consequences of the enduring air pollution crisis”.
“Local, national, and international effort is urgently needed to monitor air quality in under-resourced places, manage the causes of transboundary haze and cut our reliance on combustion as an energy source,” Farrow said.
A study at the end of 2023 claimed that air pollution – including that from high levels of traffic – can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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