Air pollution 'causes cancer' says WHO

Air pollution that is breathed in by humans every day has officially been classed as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the organisation, air throughout the world is full of pollutants that can cause cancer in humans. Air pollution is now seen as the largest environmental cause of the disease.

Pollutants created by combustion engines and industry are not only strongly linked to climate change, but it has now been found that outdoor air pollution is the primary cause of cancer, especially lung cancer. The announcement by WHO follows on from a review of scientific evidence collected from around the world. 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of WHO, has now classed airborne pollutants as being just as damaging to human health as plutonium, tobacco and UV radiation. 

Research has previously linked air pollution to lung cancer and heart disease, but now it has been found that airborne pollutants are actually a cause of cancer. Most recent data suggests that around 223,000 lung cancer deaths in 2010 were caused by air pollution. It has also been suggested that air pollution may be linked to an increase in bladder cancer, although more research is needed to prove this.

Although air pollution varies in severity throughout rural and urban areas, the WHO announcement classifies all air from different areas as being heavily damaging. However, over half of the 2010 lung cancer deaths are thought to be from East Asian countries, including China, where an increase in industrialisation has reduced overall air quality.

Doctor Dana Loomis, deputy head of the IARC monographs section, said: “Our task was to evaluate the air everyone breathes rather than focus on specific air pollutants.

“The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution.”

It is hoped that the recent findings will increase the pressure on world governments to make more provisions for the reduction of air pollution.