Most people around the world are now breathing polluted air, researchers warn

Most of the world has dirty air, with just 17 per cent of cities globally meeting air pollution guidelines, a new report has found.

Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir analysed data from 40,000 air quality monitoring stations in 138 countries and found that Chad, Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India had the dirtiest air.

India had six of the nine most polluted cities, with the industrial town of Byrnihat in northeastern India the worst.

Experts said the real amount of air pollution might be far greater as many parts of the world lack the monitoring needed for more accurate data. In Africa, for example, there is only one monitoring station for every 3.7 million people.

More air quality monitors are being set up to counter the issue, the report said. This year, report authors were able to incorporate data from 8,954 new locations and around a thousand new monitors as a result of efforts to better monitor air pollution.

But last week, data monitoring for air pollution was dealt a blow when the US State Department announced it would no longer make public its data from its embassies and consulates around the world.

Breathing in polluted air over a long period of time can cause respiratory illness, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, said Fatimah Ahamad, chief scientist and air pollution expert at Malaysia-based Sunway Centre for Planetary Health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that air pollution kills around 7 million people each year.

Ahamad said much more needs to be done to cut air pollution levels. The WHO had earlier found that 99 per cent of the world’s population lives in places that do not meet recommended air quality levels.

“If you have bad water, no water, you can tell people to wait for