The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), has unveiled the updated 2025 Air Quality Standards database. This resource compiles national air quality standards for major pollutants and other airborne toxics from countries worldwide. This latest update provides an overview of global efforts towards achieving the WHO global air quality guidelines, with 17% more countries now implementing standards for pollutants that pose a risk to human health.
"The updated WHO Air Quality Standards
database is a crucial tool highlighting global progress in setting air quality
regulations to protect public health," says Dr Maria Neira, Director,
Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization. “It
provides essential data for evidence based policymaking, helping to reduce air
pollutions impacts on communities worldwide.”
Building on previous efforts, the updated
database now includes data from approximately 140 countries from all WHO
regions, showcasing their air pollution regulatory efforts aimed at protecting
public health.
The database is presented as an interactive
tool, providing values for both the short and long-term standards for
particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3)
and carbon monoxide (CO). These values are based on averaging times that align
with WHO’s global air quality guidelines.
WHO air quality guidelines as a tool to protect
health
The WHO guidelines were published in 2021 to
reflect new evidence of the health effects of air pollution. The guidelines
recommend lower air quality levels to protect populations, underscoring the
need for countries to implement stricter standards and policies to mitigate air
pollution and its associated health risks.
The health sector has a critical role to play
to promote public health protection through effective air quality governance.
Involving the health community in the development of national air quality
standards as well as in processes ensuring that air quality standards are
embedded in legislation is key to maximize public health protection.
Adopting air quality standards as best buys to
prevent noncommunicable diseases
Environmental risks account for a quarter of
the disease burden worldwide – with air pollution alone being responsible for
almost 7 million deaths. Many of these deaths are preventable through policies
in the energy, transport, agriculture, household, industry and other sectors.
Air pollution has been recognized as a major risk for noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs), impacting not only the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, but many
more other organs and systems.
The costs of air pollution on the health
systems are substantial, and it jeopardizes the health of the most vulnerable
such as children, who are affected throughout their entire life course, as well
as people with pre-existing diseases.
By compiling national air quality standards
into a single, comprehensive database, WHO aims to empower stakeholders such
policy makers, public health officials, researchers and other civil society and
health organizations with the information necessary to monitor progress, drive
policy changes and support the implementation of effective interventions to
improve air quality and safeguard public health.
Source: WHO Website