25 March 2014 – Air pollution – both indoor and outdoor – killed
some 7 million people across the globe in 2012, making it the world’s
largest single environmental health risk, according to new figures released today by the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
“The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously
thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes,” said
Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health,
Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.
Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with
more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves,
according to a new report from the World Health Organization published
today (March 25).
The agency said air pollution is the cause of
about one in eight deaths and has now become the single biggest
environmental health risk.
“We all have to breathe, which makes pollution very hard to
avoid,” said Professor Frank Kelly, director of the environmental
research group at King’s College London, who was not part of the WHO
report.