Abstract:
Ambient air quality standards are a key policy lever in air quality
management. In South Africa, the introduction of the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) highlighted the shift in
the focus of air quality management from source to receptor
that was initiated with the introduction of the NEM:AQA. NAAQS
were developed considering health impacts, ambient levels
at the time and South Africa’s developing economy. There is
currently a process starting to review these standards, and this
process aligns with the recent release of the new World Health
Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) in
September 2021 (World Health Organization, 2021). This is the
first update of WHO’s AQG since 2005. The WHO’s guidelines
take into account recent evidence of the effect of air pollution
on human health, and many of the guidelines are substantially
lower than the previous guidelines (Table 1). In this editorial, we
ask what the implications of the new WHO Guidelines are for air
quality management and compliance in South Africa.
