WHO air quality guidelines, new possibilities for environmental sensors

October 27, 2021
Category: Articles
New WHO air quality guidelines, an open door for innovation

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • WHO air quality guidelines revise exposure limits downwards.
  • The document published in September 2021 highlights the importance of technology as a tool to monitor and reduce pollution.
  • Kunak’s solutions help to make decisions based on reliable, real-time data.

 

On 22 September, the new WHO guidelines on air quality were published. As previously announced, the exposure limit values have been revised downwards.

The objective remains the same, to preserve human health and protect ecosystems from the impact of pollutant emissions. But the global scenario has changed. As science has shown the damaging effects of air pollution, the urgency to articulate effective strategies to minimise the problem has increased.

And cutting-edge technologies like our Kunak Air Pro sensor-based air quality station, the most accurate solution for monitoring environmental variables and simultaneously measuring pollutants according to the AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge 2021, are set to be a turning point in this mission.

 

Game-changing guidelines

air pollution sources and health effects

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Air Quality Innovation in Just 1 Click

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The presentation of the WHO guidelines on air quality served to highlight the concern generated by this problem. But also the opportunities that are opening up for green technologies and, more specifically, for air quality sensors, as shown in the attached infographic.

In fact, the guidelines make multiple references to the desirability of monitoring air quality in order to know the levels of exposure to pollution. As an example, this paragraph is taken from point 7.2. Assessing population exposure to ambient pollution:

«Measurement of air pollutant concentrations at fixed-location monitoring sites is the long-standing approach used for air quality management, trend assessment and exposure estimation for epidemiological analyses. However, there is still a lack of air pollution monitoring and inadequate numbers of monitors in rural areas and locations other than major cities in many countries. Thus, monitoring metrics could be the extent of monitoring and the implementation of monitoring to cover gaps. New modelling approaches incorporating satellite and other data may also be useful. In recent decades, in addition to existing air pollution monitoring networks, advanced methods of exposure assessment have become available with the use of satellite observations and various modelling tools to support epidemiological studies, as well as health impact and risk assessment.»

Providing solutions for measuring air quality in every corner of the world is one of Kunak’s specialities.

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