We are now convinced: the air that our lungs breathe is carcinogenic. “The air we breathe has been contaminated with a mixture of substances that causes cancer,” confirms Dr Kurt Straif of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialized agency of the WHO.
“Experts have concluded (…) that there is sufficient evidence to say that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes the lung cancer. They also noted a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer “, details the release.
The IARC experts meeting in Lyon made only part of their conclusions public. Their analysis, based on the study of thousands of men and women, does not for the moment make it possible to distinguish the populations most at risk, even if obviously “the people most exposed (to polluted air, editor’s note) are the most vulnerable, ”notes Dr Kurt Straif of IARC. The experts’ conclusions will be unveiled in full next week in the scientific journal The Lancet.
Carcinogenic and bad for babies
This WHO announcement comes several days after the publication of a report from INPES, the European environment agency on pollution. She revealed that 90% of urban Europeans are exposed to pollution particles above the thresholds recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
At the same time, a study in The Lancet echoed another equally negative impact of pollution. Air pollution would give babies with a low weight. This observation is in addition to the many alarmist publications which associated air pollution with a lower intelligence quotientin children or at an increased risk of autism.
