Outdoor Air Pollution & Cancer Linked, Warns The World Health Organization

Twenty-four experts representing 11 countries and participating in the World Health Organization's specialized cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), reviewed all the latest scientific literature concerning the carcinogenicity of outdoor air pollution. The group concluded that there is sufficient evidence that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer. They also noted a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer further, the group evaluated particulate matter (PM) separately, also classifying it as carcinogenic to humans. These evaluations show an increased risk of lung cancer with increased levels of exposure to particulate matter and air pollution. Kurt Straif, Head of the IARC Monographs Section, comments that: "the air we breathe as become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances. We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also the environmental cause of cancer death."