Rising external air pollution and toxic lead have killed an estimated 9 million people worldwide due to environmental pollution since 2015 – including progress made in combating pollution elsewhere, a team of scientists reported on Tuesday. Air pollution from industrial processes and urbanization has caused a 7% increase in pollution-related deaths from 2015 to 2019, according to a review of global mortality data and pollution levels of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health. “We’re sitting in a pot of stew and it’s a little hot,” said Richard Fuller, co-author of the study and head of the nonprofit organization Pure Earth. But unlike climate change, malaria, or HIV, “we are not yet deeply rooted in it pollution.”
Global Burden of Disease
The previous version of the work published in 2017 also estimated the number of deaths from pollution by about 9 million a year – or about one in six deaths worldwide – and the cost to the global economy is estimated at $ 4.6 trillion a year. That puts pollution at the same level as smoking in relation to global mortality. COVID-19, by comparison, has killed an estimated 6.7 million people worldwide since the beginning of the epidemic according to official statistics. In their latest study, the authors analyzed the 2019 data from Global Burden of Disease, an ongoing study conducted by the University of Washington that examines exposure to global pollution and calculates the risk of death.
The new analysis, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, focuses on the causes of pollution – separating traditional pollutants such as household smoke and sewage into more modern pollutants, such as industrial air pollution and toxic chemicals. Deaths as a result of cultural pollution are declining worldwide. But they are still a major problem in Africa and other developing countries. Polluted water and soil and indoor air define Chad, Central African Republic and Niger as the three most polluted countries in terms of pollution, according to demographic data.
Government programs to prevent indoor air pollution and sanitation improvements have helped to reduce the death toll in some areas. In Ethiopia and Nigeria, these efforts have reduced the number of related deaths by two-thirds between 2000 and 2019. Meanwhile, the Indian government in 2016 began offering donations for the replacement of gas-fired stoves.
Global Alliance on Health and Pollution based
Deaths due to exposure to modern pollutants such as heavy metals, agricultural chemicals and fuel emissions are “increasing dramatically”, rising by 66% since 2000, says author Rachael Kupka, executive director of the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution based in New York. When it comes to air pollution, some major cities have seen some success, including Bangkok, China, and Mexico City, the authors say. But in small towns, pollution levels continue to rise.
