WHO air quality guidelines

Table II. WHO Air Quality Guideline Values and Health Effects...

FIGURE 3.S WHO air quality guidelines for Europe and WHO guidelines for drinking-water quality. 

When epidemiological studies form the basis for the risk assessment of a single chemical or even complex mixtures, such as various combustion emissions, it may be stated that in those cases the effects of combined action of chemicals have been incorporated. Examples can, for instance, be found in the updated WHO Air Quality guidelines (WHO 2000). Thus, the guideline value for, e.g., ozone was derived from epidemiological studies of persons exposed to ozone as part of the total mixture of chemicals in polluted ambient air. In addition, the risk estimate for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was derived from studies on coke-oven workers heavily exposed to benzo[fl]pyrene as a component of a mixture of PAH and possibly many other chemicals at the workplace. Therefore, in some instances the derivation of a tolerable intake for a single compound can be based on studies where the compound was part of a complex chemical mixture. 

This chapter provides a survey of the episodic peak ozone levels across Europe over the 1980-2009 period as recorded by the EMEP ozone monitoring network. The database of annual highest 8-h average ozone levels contains over 2,291 entries for 178 monitoring stations. All monitoring stations in almost all years show exceedance of the WHO air quality guideline of 50 ppb daily maximum 8-h average ozone level. 

World Health Organization (WHO) (2005) WHO air quality guidelines global update 2005. Report on a working group meeting, Bonn, 18-20 October 2005... 

WHO, Air Quality Guidelines for Europe, World Health Organisation, Geneva... 

World Health Organization. WHO air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Global update 2005. World Health Organization, WHO/SDE/PHE/OEH/06.02, Geneva, Switzerland, 2006. 

WHO. Air Quality Guidelines for Europe, WHO Regional Publications, European Series No. 23, Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1987, pp. 1-426. 

WHO-Europe (1997) Update and revision of the WHO air quality guidelines for Europe. ICP EHH 018 VD96.2/11. WHO-Europe, Copenhagen WHO-Europe (2005) Air quality guidlines— global update 2005. World Health Organisation-... 

The values chosen for the WHO air quality guidelines, which apply to both outdoor and indoor air are ... 

WHO. 2005. WHO Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. 

WHO. Air quality guidelines for Europe. Copenhagen Regional Office for Europe, 1987 338-360. 

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