UK Air Pollution More Toxic Than Thought

Air pollution in the UK is more deadly than in about half of Western Europe, according to a major report by the World Health Organization on how people die.

The mortality rate attributed to air pollution in homes and outside for the UK was 25.7 per 100,000, the 15th worst rate in Europe, according to the WHO report, The Independent reported.

The report revealed that the causes of nearly half of the estimated 56 million deaths worldwide in 2015 had been recorded–a major step toward trying to reduce them.

In dry, statistical terms, it catalogued human suffering and grief as never before. About 830 women die every day due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth; 43 out of every 1,000 children born die before they reach the age of five; 800,000 people took their own lives; and 1.25 million died in road traffic collisions, the leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 29.

Indoor and outdoor pollution led to the demise of 6.5 million people worldwide in 2012, 11.6% of all deaths. Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene problems were responsible for about 871,000 deaths.