The recently released Swiss IQ Air Quality Index 2022 Report found that air pollution in South Africa was 4.7 times the World Health Organization’s annual air quality guideline value.
According to IQAir’s latest air quality data, the top 10 towns and cities with the highest air pollution in South Africa as of March 16, 2023 were Meyerton, Vereeniging, Sasolburg, Johannesburg, Ga-Rankuwa, Eastleigh, Kwambonambi, Klerksdorp, Pretoria and Springs.
Granted, a few of these towns reflected poor air quality due to ongoing veld fires in the area, but most are due to Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
The report found that only six countries surveyed, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland and New Zealand, met the World Health Organization guideline of PM2.5.
It reviews the status of air quality around the world for the year 2022, presenting PM2.5 air quality data from 7 323 cities across 131 countries, regions and territories around the world.
According to IQAir, the data used in the report was aggregated from over 30 000 regulatory air quality monitoring stations and low-cost air quality sensors across the globe.
The PM2.5 data in the report is measured in units of micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3) and incorporates the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines and interim targets as a basis for data visualisation and risk communication.
Particulate matter, or PM2.5, is very small particles in the air that are 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter, less than the thickness of a human hair.
Air pollution continues to be the world’s largest environmental health threat. Worldwide, poor air quality accounts for 93 billion days lived with illness and over six million deaths each year, according to IQAir.
The total economic cost of this pollution equates to over $8 trillion dollars, surpassing 6.1% of the global annual GDP.
Exposure to air pollution causes and aggravates several health conditions which include, but are not limited to, asthma, cancer, lung illnesses, heart disease, and premature mortality.
More than 90% of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries.
Children under 18-years-old, pregnant women, and older adults all have an increased risk of developing or worsening health conditions from air pollution exposure.
The 2022 coverage for the continent of Africa expanded significantly, with the inclusion of seven additional countries, but despite the expansion, the density of coverage remains extremely scarce.
While the report contains data from over 30 000 air quality monitoring stations, only 156 stations produced all the included data for the continent of Africa, home to this year’s most polluted country in the world, Chad.
With the only real-time, publicly available source of air quality data for the entire country of Chad being provided by a single air quality monitor in the city of N’Djamena, this year the spotlight on global air quality data coverage disparities shines bright on the continent of Africa.
In 2022, only 13 (9.9%) out of the 131 countries and regions included in this report have succeeded in achieving PM2.5 concentrations at or below the WHO guideline for annual PM2.5 concentrations of 5 μg/m3.
The report noted that South Africans living close to coal-fired power stations are generally more exposed to higher levels of sulphur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions. These people are more susceptible to experiencing health impacts related to air pollution, like asthma.
Aidan Farrow, senior air quality scientist at Greenpeace International said in a statement that “too many people around the world don’t know that they are breathing polluted air.
“Air pollution monitors provide hard data that can inspire communities to demand change and hold polluters to account, but when monitoring is patchy or unequal, vulnerable communities can be left with no data to act on. Everyone deserves to have their health protected from air pollution.”
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