A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by ”la Caixa”, has estimated the disease burden for various environmental exposure factors among the child population of Europe, and once again highlights the risk posed by air pollution.
A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by ”la Caixa”, has estimated the disease burden for various environmental exposure factors among the child population of Europe, and once again highlights the risk posed by air pollution. The study calculates that every year exposure to particulate matter of less than 10 micrograms (PM10) in diameter and less than 2.5 micrograms (PM2.5) takes away 125,000 years of healthy life from children in Europe.
This analysis, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, assessed the burden of disease for the child population of the 28 countries in the European Union for seven environmental risk factors: air pollution - PM10, PM2.5 and ozone - passive tobacco smoke, humidity, lead and formaldehyde.
Population and health data were compiled from several European databases and the analysis of the environmental burden of disease was conducted in line with the comparative risk assessment approach proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project. The researchers calculated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), a measure of overall burden of disease expressed as the number of years of healthy life lost to illness, disability or premature death.
Read more at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
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