'Smokin­g is avoida­ble, but air pollut­ion is not'PARIS: Air pollution causes 790,000 premature deaths every year in Europe and 8.8 million worldwide, more than doubling recent assessments, according to a study released Monday. “This means that air pollution causes more extra deaths a year than tobacco smoking, which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates was responsible for an extra 7.2 million deaths in 2015,” said senior author Thomas Munzel, a professor at the University Medical Centre Mainz in Germany. ‘Air pollution caused highest death toll in 2015’By comparison, the average human hair is 60-to-90 microns thick. “But now we understand the link with cardio issues, brain related issues, and some reproductive issues.”Worldwide, the study found that air pollution causes an extra 120 deaths per year per 100,000 people. The 2017 Global Burden of Diseases study found that PM2.2.5 and ozone pollution caused some 4.5 million deaths in 2015, while European Environment Agency estimates, also based on 2015 data, calculated 422,000 premature deaths — due to all forms of air pollution — in the European Union.

Source: The Express Tribune March 12, 2019 10:18 UTC