POLUIÇÃO DO AR COMO CAUSA DE MORBIDADE E MORTALIDADE DA POPULAÇÃO URBANA

The reflections presented in this text relate to the damage to public health due to emissions of air pollutants in urban-industrial areas and the urgent need to review the indices used as benchmarks that air quality in Brazil. The text begins with a brief history of episodes of air pollution more harmful to health in the world, and which acted as indicative of the need for countries to establish criteria and parameters of control and monitoring of air quality, and develop legal instruments of surveillance. It tackles the regulatory actions that were implemented in Brazil in search of better air quality in cities. The proven correlation between air pollutants and increase in the incidence of morbidity and mortality among residents of metropolitan areas, and large and medium-sized Brazilian cities is evidenced by findings in the literature. These results indicate as necessary to revise the limits applied to the current air quality index, which from the world point of view, already have been modified by the WHO. The programmes for control of air pollution that are being developed at the national level, and yet the challenges we must face the environmental agencies to pick up health disorders caused by the concentration of contaminants present in urban-industrial areas are discussed