Air Pollution and Health in Rapidly Developing Countries

In developing countries the price of rapid growth is all too often noxious airborne pollution, which annually contributes to a disturbing number of avoidable deaths. In recent decades, however, there has been considerable progress in the epidemiology of air pollution, significant changes in international air pollution guidelines, and the emergence of more systematic approaches to air pollution control. While many of these advances have originated in affluent countries, there have been major developments in other parts of the world.

In this book, a distinguished cast of leading researchers in both the scientific and policy dimensions of air pollution and health have synthesized the recent developments in the field and their relevance for public health in developing countries. The authors review studies from a wide range of Asian, African and Latin American countries and contrast the findings with those from Europe and North America. They also describe various tools and systems for air pollution management and emphasize approaches that can be used when data is scarce.

With a clear focus on the scientific and technical aspects of air pollution and health, this book is essential reading for pollution and health policy-makers, researchers and others concerned with air pollution and health in developing countries.

Gordon MaGranahan is Director of the Human Settlements Programme at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, UK. He has advised numerous international agencies on urban environmental issues and his publications include The Citizens at Risk: From Urban Sanitation to Sustainable Cities (Earthscan, 2001).

Frank Murray is Associate Professor in Environmental Systems in the School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Australia. He publishes widely in the fields of policy, management and the impacts of air pollution, was an editor of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines and serves as a consultant to numerous international organizations, including WHO and the United Nations Environment Programme.