The west is net exporter of early deaths caused by air pollution
Nearly 25% of global premature deaths linked to PM2.5 small particle air pollution caused by traffic and industry are the result of products made in one area for consumers living in another, according to a study. It also found that approximately 10% of premature deaths resulted from pollutants emitted in a different part of the world from the victim. In 2007, 108,600 early deaths in China were caused by pollution created by the production of goods for western Europe and the US. In that year, Chinese pollution resulted in 64,800 deaths in non-Chinese areas including 3,100 in western Europe and the US.

A study out in the journal Nature today reveals that nearly a quarter of early deaths attributable to bad air quality worldwide happen because of products made in one region for consumers in another region.



It also found that around 1 in 10 early deaths related to air pollution happen because of pollutants emitted in a different part of the world.



For example, the study shows that in 2007 there were 108,600 premature deaths in China because of goods that were made for western Europe and the US. On the flip side of that example, pollution emitted in China caused 64,800 deaths in places other than China, including 3,100 in the US and western Europe.



"It's not a local issue any more, it requires global cooperation," Dabo Guan, an author on the paper and professor in climate change economics at the University of East Anglia, said at a briefing.



Western Europe and the US contributed the highest number of deaths outside of each region because of the products they consumed in 2007.

