Smog in Europe and North America could be more than 25 times more lethal¹ than the average air pollution found in Chinese cities, a new study suggests.

 

一项最新研究发现，欧洲和北美的雾霾致命性可能比中国城市平均空气污染水平高出25倍以上。

 

In the largest ever study of its kind in the developing world, researchers tested the effects of air pollution on the health of people in 272 cities in China.

 

They found average annual exposure to fine particles, known as PM2.5, in those cities was more than five times higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organisation² (WHO), according to a paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

 

However they also discovered that it was much less likely to increase the death rate than PM2.5 in Europe and North America.

 

The researchers, led by Dr Maigeng Zhou, of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested this was because China is affected³ by large amounts of natural dust blown by the wind from arid⁴ areas, while most pollution in the West comes from industry.

 

They found that for every increase of 10 micrograms of air pollution in a cubic metre of air, the mortality rate increased by 0.22 percent, discounting deaths from accidents.

 

Professor Frank Kelly, an expert in environmental health at King's College London, who was not involved in the study but has studied air pollution in China, told The Independent: "Those relative risks are considerably⁵ less than those seen in Europe and the US.

 

"For premature⁶ mortality [in Europe] we are working on a six percent increase per 10 micrograms."

 

That suggests air pollution in Europe is about 27 times more toxic⁷ than average air pollution in China.

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