Cape Town - The World Health Organisation says Cape Town has the third highest levels of air pollution in South Africa, putting residents at risk of getting sick and dying prematurely because of the growing level of outdoor air pollution.
A new report on pollution levels in 1 600 cities warns that only 12 percent of cities that monitor pollution meet the guideline levels recommended by the WHO for particulate matter (small particles of dust and harmful chemical pollutants that can penetrate and lodge deep inside human lungs).
In South Africa, Johannesburg and Pretoria had the highest levels, followed by Cape Town and Durban.
The report, released in Geneva last week, suggests that outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012, mainly from heart disease, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and respiratory infections.
Although the WHO believes there are no “safe” levels for particulate matter pollution, its latest guidelines recommend a maximum limit of 10 micrograms per cubic metre for PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometres) and no more than 20 µg/m3 for PM 10.
(The measurement symbol for micrograms per cubic metre is µg/m3).
PM10 levels in Cape Town was 30 µg/m3. Levels were more than three times higher in Johannesburg and about twice as high in Pretoria.
Dr Carlos Dora from the WHO department of public health noted that it was not possible to buy clean air in a bottle, so it was up to individual cities and governments to start cleaning up the air and save the lives of their people.
The report said cities can help clean up by supporting public transportation and urban development that is attractive to pedestrians and cyclists.
Last year, the organisation also concluded that outdoor air pollution can cause lung cancer and possibly bladder cancer, and that unlike tobacco smoke, most sources of outdoor air pollution were beyond the control of individual citizens.
The organisation’s assistant director-general, Dr Flavia Bustreo, said: “Too many urban centres today are so enveloped in dirty air that their skylines are invisible. Not surprisingly, this air is dangerous to breathe.”
Rico Euripidou, a health scientist for the groundWork environmental justice group, said the WHO had consistently found close links between particulate matter pollution and poor health. Elsewhere in the world, the report lists particulate pollution levels hundreds of times above the WHO guideline levels – especially in India, Pakistan and China. - Cape Times