Study Finds Air Pollution Kills 3.3 Million Worldwide, Which May Double Soon

The study found about three quarters of deaths are from strokes and heart attacks.   

“About 6 percent of all global deaths each year occur prematurely due to exposure to ambient air pollution.  This number is higher than most experts would have expected, say, 10 years ago,” said Jason West, a University of North Carolina environmental sciences professor. 

With nearly 1.4 million deaths a year, China has the most air pollution fatalities, followed by India with 645,000 and Pakistan with 110,000.  The United States, with 54,905 deaths in 2010 from soot and smog, ranks seventh highest for air pollution deaths.   

The study says agriculture caused 16,221 of US deaths.  The problem with farms is ammonia from fertilizers and animal waste.  That ammonia then combines with sulfates from coal-fired power plants and nitrates from car exhaust to form the soot particles that are the big air pollution killers. 

In the central United States, the main cause of soot and smog premature deaths is power plants; in much of the West, it’s traffic emissions. 

Read the full Washington Post post here. 

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