The United States is among the top 10 deadliest countries for pollution-related fatalities, according to a landmark new global study, which warns that understanding the magnitude of the pollution crisis is being obstructed by “vested interests and overtaxed political infrastructures”.
Toxic air, water, land and workplaces killed at least 8.3 million people around the world in 2017, accounting for 15% of all premature deaths.
Globally, the actual death and disability burden is almost certainly much higher as a multitude of omnipresent toxins – including pharmaceutical waste, plastics, most lead sources, mercury, and hormone disrupting chemicals – are not yet included in the health data analysed in the new report from the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution.
The Pollution and Health Metrics Report updates findings from a seminal Lancet Commission study that found 9 million pollution-related premature deaths in 2015.
The biggest burden of deaths falls on low and middle income countries, with India and China responsible for 4.3 million of all pollution-related premature deaths.
But, the US ranks seventh for overall deaths, sandwiched between Bangladesh and Russia, and is the “wealthiest” nation to feature in the top 10 with almost 197,000 American lives lost in 2017.
The top 10, which also includes Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria, account for two thirds of the global pollution death toll.
“The US has historically been the gold standard in tackling pollution, and today we are sadly not doing enough and the fact that we’re going backward is unconscionable,” said Gina McCarthy, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator. “We’re facing serious risks from pollution and those risks are exacerbated by climate change.”
Globally, pollution kills three times as many people each year as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. It is responsible for 15 times the number of deaths caused by war and other forms of violence.
Air pollution stands out as the biggest cause of death and disability linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, stroke, and certain cancers.
Toxic ambient air, largely caused by vehicles and heavy industry, is responsible for 3.4 million or 40% of pollution related deaths worldwide.
In the US, air toxins cause 55% of pollution deaths and experts warn that the dismantling of environmental standards by the Trump administration will likely increase pollution-related illness and premature deaths.
“We won’t pick up the extra deaths for a few years, but it doesn’t look good for the US,” said Richard Fuller, the co-author of the report. “The [regulatory] roll-backs could lead to the US moving up the chart, and as always it will be poor communities who are disproportionately affected.”
One of the most harmful air pollutants for human health is particulate matter (PM) – a complex mixture of minuscule particles and droplets produced by burning fossil fuels, power plants, and fires.
“PM is responsible for most of the [American] deaths, and the Trump administration has gutted the process for setting and implementing standards,” said Gretchen Goldman, research director for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Our political leaders should be working to make air cleaner and protect us from this huge public health threat which is killing people. Instead, we’ve seen the opposite; standards have been rolled back, scientists removed, and evidence ignored,” added Goldman.
The new report draws on data from the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study by the Institute for Health Metric (IHME). The slight overall reduction – from 9 to 8.3million deaths – most likely reflects a change in the methodology related to air pollution, rather than any actual improvements.
The one positive trend is that traditional pollution linked to poor sanitation and wood-burning stoves are falling. But modern pollution-like chemical contaminants and air toxins from fossil fuels is on the rise everywhere.
“Things are not getting any better. There’s been no real investment in dealing with the biggy – modern pollution – by affected countries or bilateral agencies,” said Fuller.
Huge gaps in scientific knowledge suggest pollution could actually be responsible for millions more deaths than captured by the current data.
For instance, the report includes one million deaths across the world related to lead, but the true figure could be two or three times higher as the current count only includes exposure to leaded fuel. The impact of lead exposure from paint, water pipes, batteries and foodstuffs is excluded.
In the US, hundreds of thousands of children remain at risk of exposure to lead from old paint and antiquated water systems, which causes cognitive and behavioral deficits, seizures and death.
The climate crisis could also vastly increase the number of people who come into contact with pollution. For example, higher temperatures may alter the chemical structure of some contaminants such as mercury, copper and lead, while heavy rainfall could compromise toxic waste dumps, abandoned mines and agricultural sewage ponds.
The authors conclude: “We are only just beginning to understand the complex relationship between pollution, health and climate change; however, preliminary studies suggest it will indeed amplify the risk of toxic exposures … This could result in significantly greater pollution related disease and death.”