Every country fell short of WHO air quality standards last year: research

No countries met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality standards in 2021, according to a survey conducted by the Swiss air quality technology company iQAir released on Sunday.

According to iQAir’s map of particulate matter concentrations in cities, no countries were able to meet the WHO’s guidelines for air quality. The survey looked at concentrations of particulate matter as big as 2.5 microns or smaller — PM2.5 — largely believed to be the most harmful to human health.

In September, the WHO released new guidelines recommending that the the concentration of PM2.5 be cut down to 5 micrograms per square meter, halving it from the previous recommendation established in 2005.

Out of the the 107 cities surveyed by IQAir, 96 percent far exceeded the WHO’s guidelines for PM2.5 concentrations. Only four cities — including San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands — were found to meet WHO standards of air quality in 2021.

Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the French-controlled island of New Caledonia were the only territories that met WHO standards. Other countries such as Denmark, Japan and Australia were close to meeting air quality standards but had particulate matter concentration levels higher than recommended.

Bangladesh, Chad and Pakistan were the top three worst countries for air quality in 2021, with PM2.5 concentrations around 66 to 77 microns per cubic meter. The U.S. was found to have an average PM2.5 concentration of 10.3 microns per cubic meter, two times higher than the WHO’s recommendations.

IQAir noted that the Clean Air Act of 1970 had helped to reduce air pollution in the U.S. over the past 50 years even as the population and energy demands grew.

“The country’s reliance on fossil fuels, increasing severity of wildfires as well as varying enforcement of the Clean Air Act from administration to administration have all added to U.S. air pollution,” said IQAir.

“Nationwide, 264 million people lived in areas where pollution levels were above the WHO annual guideline for PM2.5 concentrations in 2021. The U.S. contains the largest number of air quality monitors in the world,” it added.