Pollutants in the air, especially particulate matter and ozone are harmful to health and increase the risk for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for chemistry and the University medical center of Mainz, have calculated in a new study that air pollution reduces the life expectancy of people in the world even stronger than cigarette smoke, or infectious diseases such as Aids.
The research found that air pollution in 2015, the world’s 8.8 million premature deaths. This corresponds to an average reduction in the Per capita life expectancy of 2.9 years. In comparison, Smoking reduces life expectancy by an average of 2.2 years (7.2 million deaths), HIV / Aids was 0.7 years (1 Million deaths), parasitic diseases such as Malaria to 0.6 years (over 600,000 deaths).
The air pollution-induced premature mortality in East Asia and South Asia is highest (35 percent and 32 percent), followed by Africa (11 percent), Europe (9 percent), North and South America (6 percent). Australia has 1.5 percent, the lowest mortality rate – and the most stringent clean air standards.
Air pollution damages the cardiovascular System
"We understand more and more that fine dust favors weakness in the first line vascular damage and diseases such as heart attack, stroke, heart rhythm disorders and heart. Therefore, we consider it extremely important that air pollution is taken as a cardiovascular risk factor very seriously, and in the guidelines of the European society of cardiology to prevention of acute and chronic coronary syndrome and congestive heart failure sufficient rainfall findet", study author and cardiologist Professor Dr. Thomas Münzel says.
Almost two-thirds of the air pollution-caused deaths would be the findings of the study, avoidable, because the majority of polluted air originates from the use of fossil fuels.
NK