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Health

Campaigners troubled by WHO delay of tougher air pollution guidelines

By Adam Vaughan

16 June 2021

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Air pollution in Skopje, North Macedonia, on 15 December 2017

ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP via Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) has postponed the publication of new guidelines on tougher limits for air pollution, New Scientist has learned.

The recommendations are expected to be highly influential in how countries around the world act to clean up dirty air, a public health crisis that kills millions of people annually. Campaigners say the delay is troubling and risks pushing back strong action on air pollution.

The WHO’s current limits on air quality, first set in 2005, are considered the gold standard internationally.…

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