Towards establishing air quality guidelines for Pakistan

While enforceable National Environmental Quality Standards for pollutants exist in Pakistan, ambient air quality guidelines have never been established. However, there is no reliable epidemiological/ toxicological monitoring system in place in Pakistan to provide a basis for establishing guidelines for various air pollutants. This paper reviews the World Health Organization air quality guidelines as well as standards applied in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia Regions. Based on these, and available data on the existing air pollution situation in Pakistan, national air quality guidelines are proposed for 6 major pollutants.