Pollution Caused Nine Million Deaths In 2019, Remains World's Largest Environmental Risk Factor For Disease: Study

Pollution was responsible for nine million deaths in 2019, which is equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide, and is a number virtually unchanged for four years since 2015.

New Delhi: Pollution was responsible for nine million deaths in 2019, which is equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide, and is a number virtually unchanged for four years since 2015, when the last analysis was made. 

Moreover, pollution is the world's largest environmental risk factor for disease and premature death, according to a new study.

The new report, which is an update to The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health published in The Lancet Planetary Health, states that although the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty have decreased, the reductions are countervailed by increased deaths attributable to industrial pollution. The sources of pollution associated with extreme poverty include indoor air pollution and water pollution, while some types of industrial pollution are ambient air pollution and chemical pollution.

Impacts Of Pollution Greatest In Low- And Middle-Income Countries

In a statement issued by The Lancet, Richard Fuller, the lead author of the study, said the health impacts of pollution remain enormous, and low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of this burden. Despite the fact that pollution has enormous health, social, and economic impacts, pollution prevention is largely overlooked in the international development agenda. He added that attention and funding has only minimally increased since 2015, despite well-documented increases in public concern about pollution and its health effects. 

Pollution Remains The Largest Existential Threat To Humanity

Professor Philip Landrigan, Director, Global Public Health Program and Global Pollution Observatory at Boston College, one of the co-authors of the study, said that pollution is still the largest existential threat to human and planetary health and jeopardises the sustainability of modern societies. Preventing pollution can also slow climate change, which is like achieving a double benefit for planetary health. 

Landrigan said that the report calls for a massive, rapid transition away from all fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. 

The 2017 Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health used data from the 2015 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, and found that pollution was responsible for an estimated nine million deaths, which was equivalent to 16 per cent of all deaths globally. Based on the most recently available 2019 GBD data and methodological updates, the new report provides updated estimates for the health effects of pollution. It is also based on an assessment of trends since 2000.

Air pollution, both household and ambient, remains responsible for the greatest number of deaths at 6.67 million worldwide, of the nine million pollution-attributable deaths in 2019. Water pollution was responsible for 1.36 million premature deaths, lead was responsible for 900,000 premature deaths, while toxic occupational hazards caused 8,70,000 deaths, according to the study.

Improvements In Water Supply, Antibiotics, And Cleaner Fuels Resulted In Decline In Deaths

The decline in deaths from traditional pollution since 2000 is most evident in Africa, and can be explained by improvements in water supply and sanitation, antibiotics and treatments, and cleaner fuels. Traditional pollution includes household air pollution from solid fuels and unsafe water. 

Mortality Decrease Countervailed By Increase In Industrial Pollution-Attributable Deaths

However, the mortality decrease has been countervailed by a substantial increase in deaths from exposure to industrial pollution. For instance, ambient air pollution, lead pollution, and other forms of chemical pollution have resulted in a substantial increase in deaths across all regions over the past 20 years.

The trend is particularly evident in Southeast Asia, where rising levels of industrial pollution are combined with ageing populations and increasing numbers of people exposed, according to the study. 

Statistics Of Pollution-Attributable Deaths

In 2019, ambient air pollution was responsible for 4.5 million deaths, which was up from 4.2 million deaths in 2015 and 2.9 million deaths in 2000. 

In 2000, as many as 0.9 million deaths occurred due to hazardous chemical pollutants. The number of deaths attributable to this factor increased to 1.7 million in 2015, which, in turn, increased to 1.8 million in 2019. As many as 900,000 deaths were attributable to lead pollution in 2019.

In the past two decades, deaths from modern pollution have increased by 66 per cent, from an estimated 3.8 million deaths in 2000 to 6.3 million deaths in 2019. Sunce only a small number of manufactured chemicals in commerce have been adequately tested for safety and toxicity, figures on deaths from chemical pollutants were probably underestimated.

In 2019, excess deaths due to pollution resulted in economic losses totalling US$ 4.6 trillion, which equates to 6.2 per cent of global economic output. The study authors note the greatest burden of pollution's economic losses, occuring in low-income and middle-income countries. 

What Do The Study Authors Recommend?

The authors of the new study conclude with eight recommendations that build on those given in The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, which include calls for an independent, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-style science and policy panel on pollution, alongside increased funding for pollution control from governments, independent and philanthropic donors, and improved pollution monitoring and data collection. 

In order to approve and establish a better connection between science and policy for pollution, like those for climate and biodiversity, international organisations are required. Rachel Kupka, one of the co-authors of the study, said that pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss are closely linked, and successful control of these conjoined threats requires a globally supported, formal science-policy interface to inform intervention, influence research, and guide funding. She added that pollution has typically been viewed as a local issue to be addressed through substantial and national regulation or occasionally with regional policy in higher income regions. However, it is clear that pollution is a planetary threat, and that its drivers, dispersion and health impacts transcend local boundaries and demand a global response, she explained.

"Global action on all major modern pollutants is needed," Kupka concluded.