No country met air quality standards in 2021, new WHO report says

No country met WHO air quality standards in 2021, new report says Bangladesh remained the most polluted country, and New Delhi continued as the world’s most polluted capital, the data showed. NBC News

SHANGHAI — Not a single country managed to meet the World Health Organization’s air quality standard in 2021, a survey of pollution data in 6,475 cities showed on Tuesday, and smog even rebounded in some regions after a COVID-related dip.

The WHO recommends that average annual readings of small and hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 should be no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter after changing its guidelines last year, saying that even low concentrations caused significant health risks.

But only 3.4 percent of the surveyed cities met the standard in 2021, according to data complied by IQAir, a Swiss pollution technology company that monitors air quality. As many as 93 cities saw PM2.5 levels at 10 times the recommended level. ...