Air pollution 'one of the top ten most dangerous killers'

Air pollution is one of the top ten most dangerous killers in the world, according to a new report.

The latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) initiative found that air pollution is having a particularly dangerous impact on health in Asia. Sixty-five per cent of air pollution deaths occur in Asia, with approximately a quarter of these occurring in India.

In South Asia, air pollution is ranked as the sixth most dangerous killer, while indoor air pollution took second place. This was the reason for 712,000 deaths in this region, according to the data.

Furthermore, it is believed that 1.2 million deaths in East Asia were caused by outdoor air, despite the fact that this region boasts a rapidly expanding economy.

This is despite the fact that the number of deaths due to pollution in EU27, Eastern Europe and Russia came to a combined total of 400,000.

In fact, pollution in South Asia ranked just below blood pressure, tobacco smoking, poor fruit intake and diabetes in the list of top killers.

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has expressed shock at the findings of the report.

Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director-research and advocacy and head of its air pollution unit commented: “This GBD count on air pollution and its health risks must trigger urgent, aggressive and most stringent action in India to curb air pollution to protect public health.

"India cannot afford to enhance health risk at a time when much of its economic growth and motorization are yet to happen.”

These figures compare unfavourably to data from the year 2000. Air pollution causes 3.2 million deaths worldwide, which has increased by 300 per cent to 800,000 in the last year.

The new estimates of particulate air pollution are based on measurements at ground level, satellite remote sensing and global chemical transport models to capture population exposure.