| Azlan Othman |
BRUNEI continues to grab global attention, thanks to the superior quality of its air, one of the cleanest and safest on the planet.
The Sultanate is among the countries with healthy air and low pollution levels, according to a report published by the US Health Effects Institute this week.
The State of Global Air report found that 95 per cent of the world’s population is exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution.
It noted that that the outdoor air where 95 per cent of humans live has particulate matter (PM) concentrations above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines of 10 microgrammes per square metre.
Almost 60 per cent live in areas where particulate matter exceeds even the WHO’s less-strict transitional guidelines of 35 microgrammes per square metre. The report found that the highest concentrations of air pollution, weighted for population, are in North Africa, West Africa and the Middle East.
The next highest concen-trations are in South Asia, especially Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan. The countries with the healthiest air are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden and countries in the Pacific islands.
Overall, global air pollution has gone up by 18 per cent between 2010 and 2016.
In China, which has made a concerted effort to combat pollution, levels have actually slightly declined in the six-year period, though they are still above the WHO interim target at 56 microgrammes per square metre.
Combustion emissions from multiple sources, including household solid fuel use, coal-fired power plants, agricultural and another open burning and industrial and transportation-related sources have contributed to the increase in air pollution.
The institute’s Vice-President Bob O’Keefe said that the gap between the most polluted air on the planet and the least polluted was striking. While developed countries have made moves to clean up, many developing countries have fallen further behind as they continue to seek economic growth.
This State of Global Air 2018 report presents the latest analysis of worldwide air pollution exposures and health impacts. As it did last year, the report offers a global update on outdoor, or ambient, air pollution. The most recent global burden of disease (GBD) analysis has continued to identify ambient air pollution as one of the most important risk factors contributing to death and disability.
Ambient particulate matter (particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometres in aerodynamic diameter, or PM2.5), a component of air pollution is ranked as the sixth highest risk factor for early death.
Worldwide exposure to PM2.5 contributed to 4.1 million deaths from heart disease and stroke, lung cancer, chronic lung disease, and respiratory infections two years ago.
Brunei Darussalam has the third cleanest air in the world with lower concentration of fine particular matter (PM) in urban areas in its air, the Global Health Observatory 2017 report published by the WHO said.
A report released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in 2016 also gave a clean certificate to the air quality of the Sultanate. “Brunei has a pollution level which is well below the WHO’s ceiling for acceptable outdoor air quality compared to other countries in the region where urban pollution levels are very high, partly due to the high level of car ownership in the region’s major cities,” EIU said in its report on Asean cities titled ‘Stirring the Melting Pot’.
Another finding by the WHO in 2016 year also stated that Brunei Darussalam has some of the cleanest and safest air on the planet and is among the countries with the lowest number of deaths from air pollution – with zero deaths per 100,000 people.
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