Study finds pollution is deadlier than war, disaster, hunger

[oxbow]

Environmental pollution—from filthy air to contaminated water—is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

One out of every six premature deaths in the world in 2015—about 9 million—could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure, according to a major study released Thursday in the Lancet medical journal. The financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is equally massive, the report says, costing some $4.6 trillion in annual losses—or about 6.2 percent of the global economy.

"There's been a lot of study of pollution, but it's never received the resources or level of attention as, say, AIDS or climate change," said epidemiologist Philip Landrigan, dean of global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and the lead author on the report.

The report marks the first attempt to pull together data on disease and death caused by all forms of pollution combined.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-world-pollution-deadlier-wars-disasters.html#jCp

[Duppers]

1. We're committing suicide.

But some must think they can breathe and eat their money. On what planet?

[oxbow]

2. It's not too late to make a difference

Lots of research out there on microbes, fungi and other agents that can neutralize pollutants. If we can get special interests out of politics and redirect our R&D towards dealing with priority issues like this one, we still have time to save a lot if it.

[Duppers]

3. That's a big "if."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Just picked up a book at a second hand bookstore

called When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of environmental deception and the battle against pollution, by Devra Davis. It came out in 2002.

Looking forward to reading it.

[mountain grammy]

5. 1 in 6..

Many cancers are environmentally caused, but I don't know the actual stats. Just seems like in the last few years, half the people I know have cancer.