In the 1950s and 1960s, Japan experienced unprecedented environmental pollution and accompanying health damages, or so-called pollution diseases. The four major ones in Japan are Minamata Disease, Niigata-Minamata Disease, Itai-Itai Disease and Yokkaichi Asthma. Other Asian countries are now experiencing, or are going to experience, environmental degradation including pollution as their economies ...

Background: Air pollutants are a health risk for the entire population. Particulate matter (PM) including the smallest fraction, ultra-fine particles (UFP), therefore continue to be the focus of scientific research in this area. To protect the population from the harmful effects of exposure to PM, communication and information of research results are of special relevance as individuals with height...

AQCA – Central Asian Air Quality PlatformThis platform was initiated by a group of actors working on the topic of air quality in Central Asia in March 2022. At the moment, more than 30 organizations in the region are members of the platform.AQCA is a platform for:Regional cooperation to prevent sandy winds in cities and to study the effects of anthropogenic air pollution on the environmentInitiati...

The West Asia Air Quality Network (WAAQN) is a regional initiative established to strengthen cooperation among countries in West Asia in addressing the growing challenge of air pollution. Air pollution is a transboundary issue that cannot be effectively addressed through national policies alone, necessitating a coordinated regional approach. While significant progress has been made at the national...

Today, as in the past, the Clean Air Act continues to cut pollution and protect the health of American families and workers.  Fewer premature deaths and illnesses means Americans experience longer lives, better quality of life, lower medical expenses, fewer school absences, and better worker productivity. Peer-reviewed studies show that the Act has been a good economic investment for America....

Air pollution is one of the most challenging environmental and public health issues confronting cities worldwide. That is why Bogotá has been adopting initiatives and policies aimed at lowering air pollution and so safeguarding residents, particularly the most vulnerable exposed populations, such as children and the elderly. These initiatives are consistent with and explain the Strategic Plan for ...

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan charts the path for China’s economic and social development for 2026 to 2030. The plan was released and adopted by the National People’s Congress in March 2026. While the previous 14th Five-Year Plan reiterated the previously announced targets of achieving emissions peaking by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, the 15th Five-Year Plan has more references to e...

Synergistic mitigation of air pollutants and greenhouse gases is crucial for achieving clean air and carbon neutrality, but quantitative evidence of sectoral and regional health co-benefits in China remains limited. Authors develop an integrated Energy-Economy-Air Quality-Health framework coupling CEEPA, GAINS, and a province-level health module to simulate fourteen policy scenarios from 2020 to 2...

After the Jakarta government enacted a policy to improve air quality in high-priority areas and established Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in the Kota Tua Tourism Area (KTTA), there is now a plan to replicate this LEZ in other locations. However, the current scale of the LEZ in the KTTA and the ongoing issues with public acceptance, raise the question of how the Jakarta Government effectively replicates ...

Objective: In 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China published the urban air quality ranking for the first time, and expanded the scope of the ranking in 2018, so as to assess the emission reduction effect of this system, which is of great significance for exploring new ways to improve air quality in China.Methods: In this study, authors took the urban air quality ranking system a...