44 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL morning and late afternoon, coinciding with primary commuting times, when many embassy workers are ferrying kids to and from school, getting groceries, and bicycling or running between home and work. I wondered if there was a way to anticipate what the air would be like for the day. I was discouraged to learn that although our BAM produced air quality data that is updated hourly on our embassy’s web page, few people seemed aware of it. When a day’s data is averaged, even during a “good” air day—that is, a day that meets the U.S. EPA 24-hour standard for PM2.5—the air quality is usually moderate to unhealthy during peak commute times. My concern increased when I determined that the State Department lacks standardized guidelines for its officers abroad to reduce their exposure to air pollution and protect themselves from unhealthy air. In discussing my data and conclusions with my colleagues at the embassy, one question continued to come up: What could we do about it? Raising Awareness In the United States, we have laws and regulations to protect air quality and communication tools to build air quality awareness among U.S. citizens. The Air Quality Index (AQI), initiated in 1976 by the EPA, was implemented to communicate air quality conditions and recommended precautions for citizens in plain language. The AQI divides PM2.5 readings into categories: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, and hazardous. While WHO standards are stricter than the ones we Average annual PM2.5 levels in major U.S. cities and U.S. embassies measured by EPA-certified BAMs from 2021 to 2023. Colors reflect the pre-2024 EPA Air Quality Index classes that relate PM2.5 levels to evidence-based health impacts. U.S. cities include the greater metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Data were retrieved by the authors from the EPA for U.S. embassies and EPA’s Air Quality System for U.S. cities. Map should not be used to assess compliance with U.S. air quality standards. keep in the U.S., in 2024 the EPA strengthened the annual PM2.5 standard, presenting an opportunity for the State Department to strengthen and standardize its own air quality policies in tandem. The department could use EPA standards as a framework for acknowledging air quality health effects on Foreign Service members and their families who serve overseas, particularly those serving in moderate-to-poor air quality countries over the course of a career. Local BAM data can also be used to provide a ballpark assessment of increased risk of mortality from all causes, cardiopulmonary diseases, and lung cancer. By mapping annual average PM2.5 data at U.S. embassy BAMs from 2021 to 2023, one can readily see that the worst air pollution is occurring in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Average air quality at U.S. posts in these areas is moderate to unhealthy depending on the city, whereas average air quality at posts in the Americas and Europe ranges from good to moderate. It is not uncommon to see hourly values in the hazardous range within U.S. embassy compounds in the most polluted cities. Foreign Service members and others can track hourly values for their posts on EPA’s Airnow.gov international page. [Note: In April 2025, this page was removed. Some Foreign Service members may still be able to track local hourly values from the BAM monitor at their post.] The harmful effects of air pollution over a long period of time cannot be overstated. A recent study using satellite data in Madagascar found that from 2005 to 2018, nitrogen dioxide, which is linked to lung cancer and heart disease, increased significantly in
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