Poor air quality is breathed by 99% of the world's population

In the world, 99% of the population lives in places where air quality exceeds the limits of the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO), warned Telma Gloria Castro Romero, researcher of the Atmospheric Aerosols Group of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change (ICAyCC) of the UNAM.

"This is worrying because any type of emission, from smog to household smoke, poses a risk to global health and the climate," he noted.

Participating in the forum "The Current and Future of Air Pollution Research," held at the ICAyCC, the scientist emphasized that poor air quality and climate change are closely related due to the burning of fossil fuels, which release pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

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"It is important to know where they originate and, once in the atmosphere, the way they are modified and how they change other chemicals and evolve," mentioned.

He explained that carbon dioxide is considered the main greenhouse gas, but emissions continue to rise worldwide, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) of the United States, rising from 422.99 parts per million (ppm) in August 2024 to 425.48 ppm in August 2025.

Elizabeth Vega Rangel, a researcher in the Department of Environmental Sciences at this academic institution, explained that a research exercise carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic examined the relationship and variation of indoor and outdoor particles of different sizes in 38 homes in 16 municipalities in Mexico City.

In 72% of the houses, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentrations were higher indoors compared to those measured outdoors, and In 80% of the properties where there are smokers, the concentrations have higher peaks, compared to other homes.

A PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Vega Rangel agreed that understanding the sources of indoor pollutants is essential for developing effective control strategies, which should consider cooking, cleaning activities, smoking, and the number of occupants. In this regard, she indicated that keeping spaces ventilated can reduce exposure.

In turn, Rodolfo Sosa Echeverría, a researcher with the ICAyCC's Environmental Pollution Group, explained that starting in 1986, the then-center began significant environmental monitoring efforts that continue and are being enhanced by new young researchers. This has allowed for the monitoring of issues such as acid rain, caused primarily by high concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere.

The scientist, who participated in the meeting dedicated to the topic of Air Quality: Atmospheric Pollution, said that in collaboration with the Atmospheric Deposition Network of the Ministry of the Environment It shows how the temporal and spatial variations of acid rain in Mexico City have evolved from 2003 to 2024, a problem that is still present.

Omar Amador Muñoz, a researcher at the Chemical Speciation of Atmospheric Organic Aerosols Laboratory at ICAyCC, stated that thousands of particles are known to exist suspended in the air with different physicochemical and toxicological properties, so a major challenge is studying them to advance the generation of knowledge that will enable solutions to problems related to air quality and climate change.

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He noted that there are historical series on criteria pollutants, but little is known about unregulated toxic atmospheric pollutants . Therefore, it is essential to generate scientific evidence on the type and quantity to provide a basis for measuring exposure and risk.

Luis Antonio Ladino Moreno, head of the Department of Atmospheric Instrumentation and Observation at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change at UNAM, noted that Mexico City is covered in a huge layer of highly harmful pollution. However, this problem also It occurs in Jalisco, Michoacán, the State of Mexico, and Nuevo León, so it is essential to study what we breathe every day.

He asserted that one of the most common pollutants is aerosols; these can be soot, bacteria, pollen, or spores, with varying impacts on health and climate change.

The doctor in Environmental Sciences from the Zurich Institute of Technology commented on the effects of some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide , which causes dizziness, nausea and even death, while sulfur dioxide aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, lead causes learning disabilities and behavioral disorders, and benzene damages the immune system and is associated with leukemia.

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• Poor air quality
• Atmosphere
• world population
• World Health Organization
• Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change