Americans face cancer risk from air pollution

A new report has been published that details the extent to which people in the US may be affected by air pollution.

The document from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that some regions of the country face greater health risks because of the problem.

In particular, of the 181 pollutants people are exposed to, 80 are thought to increase the risk of cancer among humans, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reports.

Scientists found that around one in every 27,000 Americans would develop cancer after breathing in polluted air, if they were constantly exposed to the level of emissions recorded in 2002 for 70 years.

Michael Thun, vice president emeritus of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research at the ACS, said: "In other words, for every million people, air pollutants add an additional 36 people who will develop cancer over a lifetime, according to the EPA model."