Pollution Blamed for 40 Percent of Deaths Worldwide

Cornell researcher, David Pimentel, concludes about 40 percent of deaths that occur worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution. He surmises environmental degradation coupled with world population growth, are major causes behind the rapid increase in human diseases, recently reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). Pollution and an increase in population both contribute to malnourishment and disease susceptibility experienced by 3.7 billion people, he says.

Pimentel and a team of Cornell graduate students examined data from over 120 published papers on the effects of population growth, malnutrition and various kinds of environmental degradation on human diseases. Their report is published in the online version of the journal Human Ecology.

"We have serious environmental resource problems of water, land and energy, and these are now coming to bear on food production, malnutrition and the incidence of diseases," said Pimentel.

57 percent of the current world population of 6.5 billion people is malnourished, compared with 20 percent of a world population of 2.5 billion in 1950. Malnutrition is not only the direct cause of 6 million children's deaths each year but also makes millions of people much more susceptible to such killers as acute respiratory infections, malaria and a host of other life-threatening diseases, according to the research.

The study also concluded that air pollution from smoke and various chemicals kills 3 million people a year. In the United States alone about 3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into the environment -- contributing to cancer, birth defects, immune system defects and many other serious health problems.

"A growing number of people lack basic needs, like pure water and ample food. They become more susceptible to diseases driven by malnourishment, and air, water and soil pollutants," Pimentel concludes. He and his co-authors call for comprehensive and fair population policies and more conservation of environmental resources that support human life.

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