A Comparison of Air Pollution Control Standards as Adopted in Various Industrialized Contries

Abstract

The first laws on the control of atmospheric pollution were passed in the nineteenth century, principally in Great Britain, in order to solve the problems created by the wide and increasing use of coal brought about by the industrial revolution. From then on until the years of the Second World War, the problems faced were essentially those caused by the noxious and malodorous gases of industry. The various laws enacted during this period had a common denominator: the protection of the subjective interests of individuals, of employed workers or of social communities against the ‘affronts’ of neighboring individuals or companies. They were still a very long way from placing as their objective the protection from pollution, much less the defense of nature as an asset in its own right.