Delhi is not the most polluted city in the world: WHO

Delhi is not the most polluted city in the world any more, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) urban air quality database released on Thursday.

In 2014 the Capital was ranked as the most polluted city in the world in terms of the PM 2.5 (particulate pollution), where WHO had monitored 1,600 cities.

The Capital now stands at 11th among 3,000 cities in 103 countries in terms of PM 2.5 and 25th in terms of PM 10 levels.

However, four Indian cities are among the world’s 10 most polluted cities, 10 out top 20 are also in India.

Zabol in Iran is the most polluted city in the world according to the database. Gwalior and Allahabad are a close second and third in terms of PM 2.5, which is associated with more serious health impacts than PM 10. Patna and Raipur rank 6th and 7th.

WHO used data from various government and research organisations for the database which is based on ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5) and “aims at representing an average for the city or town as a whole, rather than for individual stations. “Years of measurements range from 2010 to 2015, unless the latest available data was older,” the report said.

WHO states that as urban air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people who live in them.

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Source:Thehindu

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