Toxic air will shorten children's lives by 20 months, study reveals

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Toxic air will shorten children's lives by 20 months, study reveals

Global air pollution crisis is taking its greatest toll on children in south Asia

Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Wed 3 Apr 2019 04.01 BST

The life expectancy of children born today will be shortened by 20 months on average by breathing the toxic air that is widespread across the globe, with the greatest toll in south Asia, according to a major study.

Air pollution contributed to nearly one in every 10 deaths in 2017, making it a bigger killer than malaria and road accidents and comparable to smoking, according to the State of Global Air (SOGA) 2019 study published on Wednesday.

In south Asia, children can expect to have their lives cut short by 30 months, and in sub-Saharan Africa by 24 months, because of a combination of outdoor air pollution caused by traffic and industry, and dirty air indoors, largely from cooking fires. In east Asia, air pollution will shorten children’s lives by an estimated 23 months. However, the life expectancy burden is forecast to be less than five months for children in the developed world.

“That the life of children is being shortened so much came as really quite a shock,” said Robert O’Keefe, the vice-president of the Health Effects Institute, which produced the report. “There is no magic bullet but governments should be taking action.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/03/toxic-air-will-shorten-childrens-lives-by-20-months-study-reveals

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Related: State of Global Air/2019 (State of Global Air)

[gtar100]

1. There's more to this story. Consider quality of life also.

Living in an area reeking with polluted air is oppressive. Seeing trash and debris strewn about our streets is disheartening. Just saying that the effects of pollution are more than just the stifling of years on our lives, which is bad enough, but they also place a heavy toll on our day-to-day existence. Pollution makes us sick, it's depressing to see and smell, and it surrounds us with negative messages about the world, implying that it is a toxic place and that people around us just don't care. Get out into nature if you can, before it's too late.