Air pollution more deadly than smoking, says report

Scientists found dirty air kills 8.8m people worldwide each year

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Gloom surrounds the City of London
(Image credit: Peter MacdiarmidGetty Images)

A new study claims that air pollution is now a bigger killer than smoking – causing up to 8.8m deaths a year worldwide. The figure is far higher than the previous estimate of 4.5m.

The researchers, from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, used new data and computer simulations to estimate the health impact of air pollution from sources such as traffic, industry, farming and electricity generation.

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