Ecology and people

Moscow is one of the biggest cities in the world. The quantity of cars has grown 4 times during the last 10 years. According to official records, there are 3 million cars which daily release their exhausts in Moscow. And this quantity is supposed to increase up to 5 million in the next 5 years. Annual exhausts of all types of pollutants are equal to 1.3 million tons and it increases by 150 thousand tons annually.

These pictures were shot in Moscow in August 2009. The smog over Moscow could be clearly seen on them. And a “smog hat” spreads 100 kilometers wide from the Moscow border in this region.

People breathe in polluted air and subject their health to a serious risk of respiratory diseases, asthma, allergies, some blood diseases and cancer. The World Health Organization's Air Quality Recommendations for Europe connect increasing concentrations of air pollutants with increased cases named diseases in the EU.

Air quality guidelines — global update 2005

Clean air is considered to be a basic requirement of human health and well-being. However, air pollution continues to pose a significant threat to health worldwide. According to a WHO assessment of the burden of disease due to air pollution, more than 2 million premature deaths each year can be attributed to the effects of urban outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution (caused by the burning of solid fuels). More than half of this disease burden is borne by the populations of developing countries.

Air quality guidelines were published by the WHO in 1987 and they were revised in 1997. Given the wealth of new studies on the health effects of air pollution that have been published in the scientific literature since the completion of the second edition of the Air quality Guidelines for Europe, including important new research from low-and middle-income countries where air pollution levels are at their highest, the WHO has undertaken to review the accumulated scientific evidence and to consider its implications for its air quality guidelines. The result of this work is presented in this document in the form of revised guideline values for selected air pollutants, which are applicable across all WHO regions.

The Executive summary of the revised air quality guidelines is available via the link below.

WHO Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide — Global update 2005 — Summary of risk assessment.