Air pollution behind additional 1.5 mn premature deaths annually: Study

An anti-smog gun on a modified vehicle is used to spray water to curb pollution, in New Delhi, Wednesday. Pic/PTI

Fine pollution particles (PM2.5) may be responsible for 1.5 million additional premature deaths around the globe each year, according to a study which found that low levels of air pollution are more dangerous than previously thought. The World Health Organization's most recent estimates are that over 4.2 million people die prematurely each year due to long-term exposure to fine particulate outdoor air pollution referred to as PM2.5.

The latest study, published in the journal Science Advances, suggests that the annual global death toll from outdoor PM2.5 may be significantly higher than previously thought. That is because the researchers found that mortality risk was increased even at very low levels of outdoor PM2.5, which had not previously been recognised as being potentially deadly.

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These microscopic toxins cause a range of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancers. "We found that outdoor PM2.5 may be responsible for as many as 1.5 million additional deaths around the globe each year because of effects at very-low concentrations that were not previously appreciated," said Scott Weichenthal, Associate Professor at McGill University in Canada and the lead author on the paper.

The researchers combined health and mortality data for seven million Canadians gathered over a twenty-five-year period with information about the levels of outdoor PM2.5 concentrations across the country. Canada is a country with low levels of outdoor PM2.5, making it the perfect place to study health impacts at low concentrations.

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