State’s or country’s air quality regulations and standards.
On the Internet, locate the website for your state or federal government, and find resources on your state’s or country’s air quality regulations and standards.
Consider the impacts of air quality on the environment, agriculture, the health of humans, and the costs of poor health.
Reflect on how mandating a certain level of air quality improves the environment and the lives of humans.
The Assignment:
Using the WHO site (http://www.who.int/topics/air_pollution/en/ ) and other Internet sources as needed, identify the air quality standards recommended by WHO and by your state or country.
Compose a 2–page essay in which you do the following:
Explain why air quality is important for humans and the environment.
Assess whether your country or state complies with the air quality standards recommend by WHO. Explain any differences you notice between the standards of WHO and those of your country or state.
Comment on whether the WHO standards for pollution have been successful in reducing air pollution in your state or country. If not, what more should be done? If the standards are successful, do you foresee any need in the future to increase or decrease the standards?
Sample Solution
An ambient air quality standard (AAQS) simply put is a limit on the amount of a given pollutant in the air. These standards are usually enshrined in national (or federal) law and are legally binding. The standards are designed to protect people’s health and have been calculated to allow a margin for people most at risk e.g. the young and old and people with pre-existing health problems.Looking around the world, most AAQS cover a handful of key pollutants that are collectively referred to as ‘criteria pollutants’: ozone, particulate matter, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and lead. Although countries often have standards for the same types of air pollutants, the limits themselves are quite different.
