Pollution kills 9 million people a year: What study says

INA-  sources


Global pollution kills about 9 million people a year, says a new pre-pandemic study. The death toll is attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks, and industry rising 55 per cent since 2000.
India and China lead the world in pollution deaths with nearly 2.4 million and almost 2.2 million deaths a year. But the two nations also have the world's largest populations.
 
The United States is the only fully industrialised country in the top 10 nations for total pollution deaths, ranking 7th. When deaths are put on a per population rate, the US ranks 31st from the bottom.
 
What the study shows is that deaths from air pollution and the chemical pollution are going up. But there are fewer pollution deaths now from primitive indoor stoves and water contaminated with human and animal waste.
 
Pollution kills about the same number of people a year around the world as cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke combined. But the cause of these deaths is not attributed to pollution. It is attributed to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer etc that are correlated with pollution.

The pre-pandemic study is based on calculations based on the Global Burden of Disease database and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle. It has been published in the journal, The Lancet Planetary Health.