世界卫生组织：2012年全球700万人死于空气污染

　　Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.

　　"Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it's affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," said Maria Neira, the World Health Organisation's public and environmental health chief.

　　Globally, pollution was linked to one death in eight in 2012, new WHO research found.

　　The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

　　The hardest-hit regions of the globe were what the WHO labels Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines.

　　Together, they accounted for 5.9 million deaths.

　　The global death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution, chiefly caused by cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves.

　　The toll from outdoor pollution was 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines.

　　Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, the WHO said, and due to that overlap the separate death toll attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the figure of seven million deaths.

　　The new figure is "shocking and worrying", Ms Neira told reporters.

　　When it last released an estimate for deaths related to air pollution, in 2008, the agency had put the figure related to outdoor pollution at 1.3 million, while the number blamed on indoor pollution was 1.9 million.

　　But a change in research methods makes comparison difficult between the 2008 estimate and the 2012 figures, Neira said.

　　In the past, for example, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms, and only assessed urban pollution.

　　Satellite imagery has made it easier to assess rural pollution, and new knowledge about the health impact of exposure has enabled a better count.

　　"The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes," said Neira.

　　"Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution. The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe."

　　According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people in poor nations live in homes that use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating.

　　Carlos Dora, the WHO's public and environmental health coordinator, said that turned homes into "combustion chambers".

　　Simple measures to stem the impact include so-called "clean cook stoves", which are a low-tech option, as well as improved ventilation, he said.

　　Countries also need to rethink policies, Mr Dora said, pointing to the impact in the developed world of a shift to cleaner power sources, more efficient management of energy demand, and technical strides in the auto industry.

　　He also said transport policies needed a shake-up.

　　With air pollution having sparked a recent scare in France, leading to restrictions on car use and the temporary scrapping of public transport fees in Paris, Mr Dora said such measures could be applied in the longer term.

　　"You can't buy clean air in a bottle," he said.

　　"The air is a shared resource. In order to breathe clean air, we have to have interventions in the areas that pollute air."

　　The WHO said it planned by the end of this year to release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities.

　　世界卫生组织表示，据估计由于油烟与汽车尾气引起的空气污染在2012年导致了全世界700万人死亡。

　　“空气污染，无论室内与室外的，都成为了当前最大的环境健康问题。它影响着每一个人，无论是发展中国家还是发达国家，”世界卫生组织公共环境健康主管Maria Neira说。

　　世界卫生组织最新报告显示，2012年全球死去的每八个人中就有一名死因与污染有关。

　　与污染相关的最大杀手是心脏病、中风、呼吸疾病和肺癌。

　　世界卫生组织认为最严重的地区是东南亚，包括印度、印度尼西亚，还有西太平洋地区，从中国、韩国一直到日本、菲律宾。

　　据统计，该地区死亡人数达到590万人。

　　全世界有430万人死于室内空气污染，主要来源为煤炉、木头燃烧和生物质炉灶。

　　全世界死于户外污染的有370万人，污染源为工业用煤和柴油机。

　　世界卫生组织说，有很多人同时暴露在室内污染与室外污染下，由于各自的死亡人数有相互交叠的部分，因此并不能简单相加，因此得出的数据为700万人。

　　Neira女士告诉记者，这个数字令人“震惊且忧虑”。

　　2008年世界卫生组织发布空气污染导致的死亡人数预测数据时，室外污染死亡人数为130万，而室内污染死亡人数为190万人。

　　Neira说由于调查方法的改变，难以对2008年与2012年的数据进行比对。

　　例如，以前世界卫生组织并没有考虑室内室外交叉的部分，并且只统计了城市污染的部分。

　　卫星图像使调查乡村的污染变得更加容易，并且关于影响健康的风险因素的新知识让我们可以做一个更好的统计。

　　“空气污染的危害远远超过以前我们所知道的，尤其是对于心脏病与中风。”Neira说。

　　“没有什么会比空气污染给全球健康带来更大的危害。这些证据说明我们必须采取行动净化我们的空气。”

　　根据世界卫生组织调查，贫困国家中大概有29亿人在家里依旧使用柴火做饭取暖。

　　WHO公共环境健康协调员Carlos Dora说这样会使家变成“燃烧的套房”。

　　改善这种情况的简单办法是所谓的“清洁灶”，这是一种低科技含量的选择，也就是改进的通风设备，他说。

　　Dora先生说各国需要反思各自的政策，他指出了发达国家转变为使用清洁的动力能源，对能源需求进行更高效的管理，以及自动工业技术的提升的影响。

　　他说运输政策也需要巨大的改变。

　　由于空气污染在法国近期引发的恐慌，导致汽车限行与巴黎公共运输费用的暂时废除，他说这些措施可以长久地实施。

　　“你买不到一瓶干净的空气。”他说。

　　“空气是共有的资源。为了呼吸干净的空气，我们需要对污染空气的地区采取措施。

　　世界卫生组织说计划在今年年底发布全球污染最严重的1600个城市名单。