KATHMANDU, Nepal-The International Agency for Research for Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that exposure to air pollution is a key cause of lung cancer.
At a time people are forced to live amidst the atmosphere of dust and fog, vehicles emissions, fumes from kiln factories, smokes release from industries, which are regarded as key contributors to the air pollution, the crucial report was made public fearing the people living in the polluted cities of developing countries.
A total of 223,000 people succumb to death worldwide from lung cancer triggered by increased air pollution, the IARC’s data revealed.
The agency said that the rapid industrial enterprise in developing countries have fuelled the exposure level to a greater extent, adding that outside smokes have also been associated with urinary bladder cancer.
According to Kurt Straif, the air we breathe has become increasingly contaminated with a mixture of cancer-causing substance. ‘We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths, ‘ express.co.uk quoted Straif as saying.
IARC director Dr Christopher Wild said that it was ‘an important step’ classifying outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic and suggested that there are effective methods to lessen air pollution.
IARC said its consequences were based on a worldwide study even though levels of air pollution varying across the globe.
Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK said Cancer Research UK wanted the Government and relevant authorities to introduce measures that cut down air pollution to levels within EU limits to protect people’s health.
With an attempt to convey a message to governments to compel them to take rigid action, the IARC has now classified air pollution in the same category as tobacco smoke, UV rays and plutonium.
