Air Pollution Kills More People Than Smoking

A new study by Munzel et al. at the University Medical Centre Mainz has revealed air pollution to be a bigger killer around the globe than smoking. The researchers estimate that in 2015. 8.8 million deaths were attributable to air pollution (predominantly PM 2.5), compared to 7.2 related to the affects of smoking. As the study notes: "Smoking is avoidable but air pollution is not." The research involved computer simulations of interacting natural and man-made chemicals combined with new information about population density, disease risk factors, and causes of death. Globally, air pollution was found to account for 120 extra deaths per 100,000 people per year.