Air pollution is the second leading cause of death for children under five in the world

“This new report is a stark reminder of the enormous impact that air pollution has on human health and, above all, on the health of young girls and boys, the elderly, and in low- and middle-income countries,” explains Pant. Director of Global Health at the Health Effects Institute and leader of the report.

The paper is based on data from more than 200 countries from the Global Burden of Disease, Injury and Risk Factors 2021 study, which involved more than 10,000 researchers from around the world, and focuses on the health effects of three of the six key environmental pollutants: fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3).