Pollution in the air, water, soil and in the workplace is linked to an estimated nine million deaths each year worldwide – equivalent to one in six (16%) of all deaths, according to a ground-breaking new report in the leading medical journal The Lancet. In the EU alone, pollution causes more than 400,000 deaths which represents 7.8% of all deaths. Most of these deaths are due to non-communicable diseases caused by pollution such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
First document looking at the impact global pollution has in our health and social systems, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health report shows that in the EU-28 over 280,000 people die early each year because of poor air quality. Brand new figuresd new figures from the European Environment Agency also show that air pollution causes significant health costs, estimated to be up to 940 billion EUR for the year 2010 alone.
The highest proportion of deaths by country due to global pollution in Europe is happening in highly dependent coal countries such as Romania (11.86%), Bulgaria (11.55), Croatia (10.38%) and Poland (10.28%); while the highest amount of nationals dying from pollution are Germans (62,230), Italians (57,066), British (50,235) and Polish (39,775).
Air pollution and disease
According to the report, particulate matter in the air (PM2.5) is the best studied form of air pollution and has been linked to a wide range of diseases in several organ systems. Researchers have found that the strongest causal associations seen between PM2.5 pollution and health, result in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.
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