Air pollution in Mexico City

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A NASA satellite image of smog in the Valley of Mexico in 1985

Air pollution in Mexico City is a continuing concern for citizens, health experts, and environmentalists. However, much improvement has been made in the city since 1992 when the United Nations named Mexico City "the most polluted city on the planet." At the time pollution was thought to cause 1,000 deaths and 35,000 hospitalizations per year.[1]

Currently, ozone and other air pollutants rank at about the same level as Los Angeles.[2] This improvement in air quality was achieved, starting in the 1980s, through the Mexican government's requirement that gasoline be reformulated, that polluting factories be closed or moved, and that drivers be prohibited from using their car one day per week. More recently there has been an expansion of public transportation.[3] Air pollution has been a major issue in Mexico City for decades.

It has been said that "Mexico City’s air has gone from among the world’s cleanest to among the dirtiest in the span of a generation."[4] Historic air pollution episodes of the 1950s led to acute increases in infant mortality.[5] Connections have also been found between air pollution and school absenteeism among children in Mexico City,[6] between air pollution and heart rate variability among the elderly in Mexico City,[7] and between urban air pollutants on emergency visits for childhood asthma in Mexico City.[8]

References

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External links

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