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Air pollution is considered as the greatest environmental threat to human health, accounting for seven million premature deaths worldwide

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Only 10 out of 134 countries have succeeded to achieve the World Health Organisation’s  (WHO) guidelines on limiting air pollution.

This is according to the 2023 World Air Quality Report, which collected PM2.5 air quality data from 7 812 cities spanning 134 countries, regions, and territories. This means that only 9% of the reporting cities globally achieved WHO guideline.

PM2.5 refers to fine particles in the air, so small they can travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs, causing short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath. Common components of PM2.5 include sulfates, black carbon, nitrates, and ammonium.

South Africa, the report indicates, occupies the 47th position among the most-polluted countries in the world. The country’s hotspot is the Highveld region, and area that straddles Mpumalanga and Gauteng and covers 31 000 square kilometres.

There are 12 Eskom coal power stations and Sasol’s coal to liquids refinery in the area that covers eMalahleni, Middelburg, Secunda, Standerton in Mpumalanga and Edenvale, Boksburg and Benoni in Gauteng.

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Air pollution is considered as the greatest environmental threat to human health, accounting for seven million premature deaths worldwide. It is responsible for such diseases such as to asthma, cancer, stroke, and lung disease. Exposure to fine particles can also impair cognitive development in children, lead to mental health issues, and complicate existing illnesses including diabetes.

The World Air Quality Report indicates that while PM2.5 poses direct health risks, its implications extend beyond human health to complex environmental processes that are impacted by the Earth’s climate.

“Climate change, primarily driven by greenhouse gas emissions, plays a pivotal role in influencing concentrations of PM2.5 air pollutants through various pathways, including the impact of wildfire smoke and pollen-based aeroallergens,” says the report.

“Fossil fuel emissions account for 65% of global carbon dioxide emissions and are also the primary cause of the majority of PM2.5-related deaths, highlighting the interconnected relationship between air quality and climate change.”

The report calls for the simultaneous address of air pollution and climate change for comprehensive environmental improvements. 
“Climate change can alter weather patterns, leading to changes in wind and precipitation. This, in turn, can affect the dispersion and removal of PM2.5 from the atmosphere. Projections indicate that climate change will exacerbate air quality issues, with extreme heat events becoming more severe and frequent,” said the report.

It added that in many regions, intense pollution events coincided with extreme heat, exacerbated by air stagnation events where weak winds hindered ground-level ventilation, allowing pollutants to accumulate. As climate change progresses, the frequency of such events is anticipated to increase.

The data used to create this report was gleaned from more than 30 000 air quality monitoring stations operated by research institutions, governmental bodies, universities and educational facilities, non-profit organisations, private companies, and citizen scientists.

In a March 18 judgment, Pretoria High Court judge, Colleen Collis, found that the poor air quality in the Highveld Priority Area was in breach of residents’ constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being.

Collis ordered Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, to implement a 15-year-old plan aimed at cleaning the harmful Highveld region air. 
The application was brought by environmental organisations groundWork and Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action.