{"id":21326,"date":"2026-01-14T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reven.de\/2026\/01\/14\/new-who-guideline-values-for-air-pollutants\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:14:48","slug":"new-who-guideline-values-for-air-pollutants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reven.de\/en\/2026\/01\/14\/new-who-guideline-values-for-air-pollutants\/","title":{"rendered":"New WHO guideline values for air pollutants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why are healthy air and air pollutants currently only an issue in schools? <\/h3>\n\n

If you follow the current discussions about air purifiers, you could come to the conclusion that there is only potential for optimization in the area of ventilation in schools. There is no question that our children need a modern ventilation system in their schools. But are only our children entitled to this? Why do almost all studies, discussions and manufacturer interests currently revolve around ventilation systems in schools? <\/p>\n\n

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently drawing attention to this problem. Clean and therefore healthy air is a right for all of us. Not only in schools must the air be healthy and safe, but also at work and in developing countries. Even in modern industrialized countries such as Germany or North America, it is not uncommon to find production facilities where there is hardly any ventilation and the air quality is simply catastrophic. <\/p>\n\n

The WHO has therefore significantly tightened the guideline values for air pollutants. This is the first time it has adjusted these limits since 2005, as exceeding these new limits is associated with considerable health risks. Another reason is the findings from the pandemic that people with respiratory diseases often suffer from severe coronavirus. <\/p>\n\n

New limit values<\/strong> are recommended for six pollutants<\/strong>, including particulate matter and ozone<\/strong>. Using these two pollutants as an example, we would like to show how grossly negligent we continue to be in dealing with them! <\/p>\n\n

Careless handling of particulate matter in mechanical engineering<\/h3>\n\n

The new WHO guidelines recommend limit values for PM10 and PM2.5 particulate matter aerosols of a maximum of 45 and 15 micrograms of<\/strong> particulate matter aerosols in one cubic meter of urban air respectively<\/strong>. At the same time, some German mechanical engineering companies are still operating with maximum permissible limits of 10,000 micrograms of coolant and lubricant aerosols in one cubic meter of air. <\/p>\n\n

Certainly, cooling lubricants are not to be equated one-to-one with particulate matter. However, we do not necessarily see a much lower hazard potential. In the VDMA guidelines “Fresh air at the workplace – cooling lubricants”, the following is noted on page 11 under “4.5 Degree of separation”: <\/p>\n\n

“The aim is to comply with the technical assessment value of 10 mg\/m\u00b3 at the workplace. The less coolant is fed back into the factory building, the lower the outside air volume flow required to comply with the 10 mg\/m\u00b3.” <\/p>\n\n

As noted, the title of the guide is: “Fresh air in the workplace”!!!?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Download VDMA Guide<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Negligent handling of ozone in commercial kitchen ventilation systems<\/h3>\n\n

The new WHO guidelines recommend a maximum limit value for ozone of 100 micrograms<\/strong> of ozone in one cubic meter of urban air. At the same time, some German kitchen ventilation experts are still communicating a permissible limit value of 20,000 micrograms of ozone in exhaust air systems in commercial kitchens. <\/p>\n\n

These are discrepancies that are no longer acceptable now, at the latest with the new WHO guidelines, and which need to be discussed. Not only are the guideline values in industry far higher than the WHO recommendations, the current limit values for air pollutants in the EU are also much higher than the new WHO guideline values. However, with the publication of the new guideline values by the WHO in September 2021, the EU is now rightly under pressure to act. <\/p>\n\n

Download the new WHO documents from September 2021:<\/h3>\n\n
\"Summary<\/a>
Summary of the new WHO guideline values for air pollutants 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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WHO Summary<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
WHO complete documentary 2021<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Discuss with the author of this WHO air pollutants blog article: You can reach Sven Rentschler on LinkedIn at this link:<\/h3>\n\n
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Contact LinkedIn Sven<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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