World pollutionwatch: Slow progress on the exhaust front

Travel the world and you will see many of the same types of lorries, buses and cars on the roads but what comes from their exhaust can be very different.

The US, Japan and Europe were the first to set limits on health-harmful exhaust. European limits began in 1992 and got progressively tighter; allowing technology to be developed and perfected. Much of the world is following Europe but Russia lags by around eight years and others such as India, China, Mexico and Australia have no plans to adopt the latest European standards. India has no regulations beyond 15-year-old European standards and China has no national schemes beyond Europe's 2005 standards for buses and lorries.