ABSTRACT
Throughout the world, reducing the impacts attributed to environmental exposures is an important public health objective and one with signicant societal benets. Poor air quality (AQ) is recognized as one of the leading contributors to the global environmental burden of disease. There is extensive scientic evidence of population health effects, even in countries with relatively low concentrations. Air pollution also damages terrestrial and aquatic resources, including those of direct economic importance, and it is interwoven with the causes and consequences of climate change and many other pressures confronting society, such as urbanization, energy production, and waste management. Consequently, the development of AQ policy is an active and relatively mature part of the environmental management process. Although this process is complex and requires that the problems be addressed through several different, but complementary, mechanisms, many countries have realized signicant improvements in AQ over the past several decades.
