Air pollution is a major cause for cancer, according to a new report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the WHO. According to experts, in 2010, polluted air containing carcinogens caused the death of 223 thousand people. The worst situation is in India and China.
IARC spokesman Dana Loomis reports that in Asia and South America there is an increasing number of rapidly developing countries. Everybody knows the deplorable air pollution situation in China. Many countries are beginning to face similar problems. But it’s time to realize that the air on the planet belongs to us all, and we all have a collective responsibility for its purity.
Among European countries, Bulgaria and Poland produce the largest amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. France, with more than 350 cases of cancer for 100,000 men, has a fearful situation, too. The problems with cancer usually affect people over 50. All in all, six million people get ill with cancer each year.
Now cancer is the second in the world after cardiovascular diseases. WHO experts predict that in the next 20 years, about 25 million people will get sick with cancer, and those will be mostly the residents of the developing countries.
