Pollution’s effect on our health

Researchers have estimated that the effects of pollution may be far greater than previously thought. A study published in the Lancet looked at the link between pollution, health, and death rates worldwide.

The researchers defined pollution as “unwanted, often dangerous, material that is introduced into the Earth’s environment as a result of human activity, that threatens health and harms ecosystems”.

The study revealed that pollution contributed to as many as nine million deaths a year worldwide – up to one in six of all deaths.

Researchers estimated that in 2015, pollution (of all types) was a strong determinant in a quarter of deaths from coronary heart disease. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they combined all types of pollution and found that it was a major factor in nearly half of lung cancer deaths.

It turns out that most of the pollution-related deaths reported in this 2015 study were from a variety of non-contagious diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease, among others. Of these pollution-related deaths, 92% occurred in low and middle-income countries, though it affected all countries to a greater or lesser degree.

In fact, 50,235 deaths were related to pollution in the United Kingdom, and most of those (28,346) were related to air pollution specifically.