A study published Tuesday finds that air pollution poses a greater risk to global health than smoking or alcohol consumption, a danger that is heightened in regions such as Asia and Africa.
According to this University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) report on global air quality, fine particulate pollution from motor vehicles, industry and fires is “the largest external threat to public health worldwide.”
But despite this, the funds for the fight against air pollution represent only a small part of the funds spent on infectious diseases, for example, the report points out.
Fine particle pollution increases the risk of lung and heart disease, stroke and cancer.
EPIC estimated that meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) exposure threshold for particulate matter under all conditions would increase global life expectancy by 2.3 years, based on data collected in 2021.
In comparison, tobacco consumption reduces total life expectancy by an average of 2.2 years and child and maternal malnutrition by 1.6 years.
In South Asia, the region of the world most affected by air pollution, the impact on public health is very pronounced.
According to models from EPIC, Bengal could gain a life expectancy of 6.8 years if the pollution threshold were lowered to WHO-recommended levels.
India’s capital, New Delhi, is “the most polluted megalopolis in the world,” while China “has made remarkable progress in fighting air pollution since 2014,” said Christa Hasenkopf, director of air quality programs at EPIC.
Average air pollution in the country decreased by 42.3% between 2013 and 2021, but remains six times higher than the WHO recommended threshold. If this progress continues over time, China’s population is expected to gain an average of 2.2 years in life expectancy, the study said.
But overall, the regions of the world most exposed to air pollution receive the fewest resources to combat this risk, the report said.
“There is a profound discrepancy between the places where the air is most polluted and those where the most collective and global resources are mobilized to solve this problem,” explains Hasenkopf.
While international mechanisms exist to combat HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, no equivalent exists for air pollution.
“And yet air pollution reduces the average life expectancy of a person in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon more than HIV, malaria and other diseases,” the report said.
In the United States, the federal Clean Air Act program has helped reduce air pollution by 64.9% since 1970, increasing the average life expectancy of Americans by 1.4 years.
In Europe, air quality improvement has followed the same trend as in the US in recent decades, but large differences still exist between the east and west of the continent.
All of these efforts are threatened, among other things, by the increase in wildfires worldwide, caused by rising temperatures and more frequent droughts, which are related to climate change, causing spikes in air pollution.
Source: DN
