Air Pollution Emerges as the Second Leading Cause of Early Death Worldwide
A recent report underscores the alarming impact of air pollution on global health, revealing it as the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide. According to the Health Effects Institute (HEI), air pollution was responsible for 8.1 million deaths, accounting for about 12 percent of global fatalities in 2021.
This positions air pollution ahead of tobacco use and poor diet in terms of early death risk, trailing only behind high blood pressure. The HEI’s annual State of Global Air report, produced in partnership with UNICEF, highlights the severe impact on young children, noting that nearly 2,000 children die daily due to air pollution-related health issues.
In 2021 alone, over 700,000 children under the age of five succumbed to conditions linked to polluted air. Of these, more than 500,000 deaths were tied to indoor cooking with dirty fuels such as coal, wood, or dung, primarily in Africa and Asia.
Pallavi Pant, HEI’s head of global health, emphasized that “these are solvable problems,” pointing out that nearly everyone worldwide is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution daily. The majority of these deaths are associated with PM2.5 pollutants—tiny particles that contribute to severe health conditions like lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
