600 Million Found Living in Areas of High Sulfur Dioxide
More than 600 million people live in cities where the average level of sulfur dioxide in the air is beyond the guidelines set by the World Health Organization, a joint report by WHO and the U.N. Environment Program said Wednesday.
It said that because of particles suspended in the air, mainly as a result of burning coal and wood or of dust raised by traffic, the number of people living in unsafe urban areas was even higher, about 1.25 billion. The findings are the results of an air-monitoring project that began in 1973 and has since grown to include about 170 monitoring sites in more than 54 cities.
Of the cities cited, Milan, Italy, has the highest level of sulfur dioxide pollution with a five-year average of about 190 micrograms per cubic meter, compared with a WHO guideline of 40 to 60 micrograms.
Milan is followed by Shenyang, China; Tehran; Seoul, South Korea; Rio de Janeiro; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Xian, China; Paris; Beijing, and Madrid.
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