Increase PM 2.5 By 10 Microgams/M3 And Life Expectancy Drops By 11 Years
An increase of just 10 micrograms of carbon pollutants per cubic metre is enough to reduce life expectancy by nine to 11 years, a new study finds.
Tiny particles of partially burnt carbon, called PM 2.5, are linked to chronic lung problems, heart conditions and some cancers. The difference between being inside a city and outside a city is roughly equivalent to 10 micrograms per cubic metre of PM 2.5. People in inner cities are frequently exposed to much greater levels of PM 2.5.
Previous EU figures have come out with an estimate closer to an average of 1 to 2 years of life years lost to air pollution across the general population. A reanalysis of the data by Mikael Skou Andersen of Aarhus University in Denmark found that the average was closer to nine to 11 years, when you take into account who actually dies of air pollution.
"About 70 or 80% of Europeans are exposed to these high concentrations," Andersen told IBTimes UK. "In the most polluted areas there is several times this level." But that's not to say that 70-80% of people will die 10 years early because of air pollution. It's only those who do end up dying of air pollution that will lose a decade of life.
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http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/air-pollution-knocks-decade-off-life-expectancy-1628941