Report: Air pollution linked to deaths of 700,000 children aged 5 and under

Little kids are particularly vulnerable to air pollution. — AFP

EXPOSURE to air pollution contributed to the deaths of 8.1 million people – around 12% of all fatalities – in 2021, according to the report from the United States-based Health Effects Institute.

This means air pollution has overtaken tobacco use and poor diet to become the second leading risk factor for early death, behind only high blood pressure, it said.