About 7 million people die from air pollution every year

SeoulAir pollution.Buildings and houses are covered with a thick haze in Seoul, South Korea. ( AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Worldwide, around 7 million people die as a result of poor air quality every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

In a new study conducted by the organization has concluded that 90 percent of the world’s population is breathing in polluted air.

“Air pollution is a threat to all of us, but it’s the poorest and most marginalized who gets hit the hardest,” says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief executive officer.

Worldwide, about 7 million people die every year from breathing air particles that can lead to stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and pneumonia.

Air pollution is worst in big cities, but often worse than one would think in rural areas. In addition to pollution outside, many people in developing countries are sick of soot and particles from coal-fired cooking indoors.

According to the organization, this type of air pollution leads to about 3.8 million deaths annually.

“It is unacceptable that over 3 billion people – mostly women and children – still breathe fatal smoke every single day from polluting furnaces and fuels,” says Ghebreyesus.

More than 90 percent of the deaths associated with air pollution take place in low and middle income countries, according to the organization.

 

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