Time to harmonize national ambient air quality standards

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization has developed ambient air quality guidelines at levels considered to be safe or of acceptable risk for human health. These guidelines are meant to support governments in defining national standards. It is unclear how they are followed. METHODS: We compiled an inventory of ambient air quality standards for 194 countries worldwide for six air pollutants: PM(2.5), PM(10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. We conducted literature and internet searches and asked country representatives about national ambient air quality standards. RESULTS: We found information on 170 countries including 57 countries that did not set any air quality standards. Levels varied greatly by country and by pollutant. Ambient air quality standards for PM(2.5), PM(10) and SO(2) poorly complied with WHO guideline values. The agreement was higher for CO, SO(2) (10-min averaging time) and NO(2). CONCLUSIONS: Regulatory differences mirror the differences in air quality and the related burden of disease around the globe. Governments worldwide should adopt science based air quality standards and clean air management plans to continuously improve air quality locally, nationally, and globally. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00038-017-0952-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.