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Updated:05/18/2022 00:30h
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Nine million people died from pollution in 2019, the same number as in 2015, according to a report by The Lancet Planetary Health that finds that more than 1.8 million deaths are due to toxic chemical pollution (including lead), which represents an increase of 66% since 2000.
The document draws attention to the rise in deaths from modern types of pollution (for example, air pollution and from toxic chemicals) that dwarfs the progress made in reducing deaths from pollution associated with extreme poverty ( for example, air and water pollution in homes).
Pollution remains the greatest environmental risk factor for disease.
The new report is an update to The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, and says that although the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty (such as indoor air pollution and pollution of water) has decreased, these reductions are offset by increases in deaths attributable to industrial pollution.
“The health impacts of pollution remain enormous, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the brunt of this burden. Despite its enormous health, social, and economic impacts, pollution prevention is overlooked on the international development agenda,” says Richard Fuller, lead author. “Attention and funding have only increased minimally since 2015, despite a well-documented increase in public concern about pollution and its health effects.”
“Pollution remains the greatest existential threat to human and planetary health and endangers the sustainability of modern societies. Pollution prevention can also slow climate change – achieving a double win for planetary health – and our report calls for a massive and rapid transition away from all fossil fuels and towards clean, renewable energy.” Professor Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program and the Boston College Global Pollution Observatory.
The commission has used data from the 2015 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, and found that pollution was responsible for 16% of all deaths globally. The new report provides updated estimates of the health effects of pollution, based on the most recent GBD data from 2019 and methodological updates, as well as an assessment of trends since 2000.
Of the nine million deaths attributable to pollution in 2019, air pollution (both domestic and ambient) remains responsible for the largest number of deaths, at 6.67 million worldwide. Water contamination was responsible for 1.36 million premature deaths. Lead contributed 900,000 premature deaths, followed by toxic occupational hazards with 870,000 deaths.
The decline in deaths from traditional pollution since the year 2000 (household air pollution from solid fuels and non-potable water) is most evident in Africa. This can be explained by improvements in water supply and sanitation, antibiotics and treatments, and cleaner fuels.
However, this decline in mortality has been offset by a substantial increase in deaths from exposure to industrial pollution – such as air pollution, lead and other forms of chemical pollution – in all regions over the past 20 years. This is especially evident in Southeast Asia, where rising levels of industrial pollution are compounded by an aging population and rising numbers of people exposed.
Ambient air pollution was responsible for 4.5 million deaths in 2019, up from 4.2 million deaths in 2015 and 2.9 million in 2000. Deaths from hazardous chemical pollutants increased from 0.9 million in 2000, to 1.7 million in 2015 and 1.8 million in 2019, with 900,000 deaths attributable to lead contamination in 2019.
Overall, deaths from modern pollution have increased by 66% in the last two decades, from an estimated 3.8 million deaths in 2000 to 6.3 million in 2019. Figures for deaths from chemical pollutants are likely to be underestimated. , as only a small number of commercially manufactured chemicals have been adequately tested for safety or toxicity.
The authors of the new study conclude with eight recommendations. Among them, the creation of an independent scientific and political group, in the style of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)as well as increased funding for pollution control from governments, independent donors and philanthropists, and improved pollution monitoring and data collection.
International organizations must also endorse and establish a better connection between science and pollution policy, as do those dealing with climate and biodiversity, initially chemicals, waste and air pollution.
“Pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss are closely related. Successful control of these joint threats requires a formal science-policy interface with global support to inform intervention, influence research and guide funding.” Pollution has typically been viewed as a local problem to be addressed through subnational and national regulation or, occasionally, regional policy in higher income regions.
However, it is clear that pollution is a global threat and that its causes, its dispersion and its effects on health transcend local borders and require a global response. Global action is needed on all major modern pollutants,” he says. Rachael Kupkaco-author and executive director of the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution.
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