Prólogo del documento publicado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud:
Clean air is considered to be a basic requirement for human health and wellbeing. In spite of the introduction of cleaner technologies in industry, energy production and transport, air pollution remains a major health risk. Recent epidemiological studies have provided evidence that in Europe hundreds of thousands of premature deaths are attributed to air pollution. The World Health Organization has been concerned with air pollution and its impact on human health for more than 40 years. In 1987 these activities culminated in the publication of the first edition of Air quality guidelines for Europe. It was the aim of the guidelines to provide a basis for protecting public health from adverse effects of air pollutants, to eliminate or reduce exposure to hazardous air pollutants, and to guide national and local authorities in their risk management decisions. The guidelines were received with great enthusiasm and found wide application in environmental decisionmaking in the European Region as well as in other parts of the world.
Since the publication of the first edition, new scientific data in the field of air pollution toxicology and epidemiology have emerged and new developments in risk assessment methodology have taken place. It was therefore necessary to update and revise the existing guidelines. Starting in 1993, the Bilthoven Division of the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health undertook this process in close cooperation with WHO headquarters and the European Commission. More than 100 experts contributed to the preparation of the background documents or participated in the scientific discussions that led to the derivation of guideline values for a great number of air pollutants. WHO is most grateful for their contribution and expert advice. Financial support received from the European Commission, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Government of the Netherlands during the preparation of the second edition of the guidelines made this effort possible and is warmly acknowledged.
The guidelines are a contribution to HEALTH21, the health for all policy framework for the WHO European Region. This states that, by the year 2015, people in the Region should live in a safer physical environment, with exposure to contaminants hazardous to health at levels not exceeding internationally agreed standards. WHO is therefore pleased to see that the revised air quality guidelines are being used as a starting point for the derivation of legally binding limit values in the framework of the EU Air Quality Directive. Also, the global guidelines for air quality, recently issued by WHO headquarters, are based on the revised guidelines for Europe.
Thus, the work and efforts of everybody who contributed to the revision of the guidelines has already had an important impact. It is expected that the publication of this second edition will provide the Member States with a sound basis for improving human health by ensuring adequate air quality for all. I should like to warmly thank all the WHO staff who made this important endeavour possible.
Marc A. Danzon
WHO Regional Director for Europe