Risks from chemicals revealed

New research produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has thrown light on the terrible damage that high concentrations of chemicals can wreak upon human health.

Chemical substances caused almost five million deaths in 2004 (8% of the total). Asbestos and lead were among the biggest killers causing the deaths of 107,000 and 143,000 people respectively. WHO also calculates that the impact of exposure to chemicals on life expectancy is severe, with the number of years of life lost due to chemicals estimated at a staggering 86 million.

Breaking the figures down into individual toxins is instructive. Occupational exposure to arsenic, asbestos, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, diesel exhaust, nickel and silica caused approximately 111,000 deaths from lung cancer in 2004 (amounting to about 9% of lung cancer cases). Those substances alone took over a million days off human lifespans.

WHO commented: “Although underestimated, the global burden of disease attributable to chemicals is useful information for international, regional and national decision-makers from the different sectors and programmes who have a role to play in reducing human exposure to toxic chemicals”.

The organisation concludes that: “This review supports that further attention should focus on investigating population health impacts from chemicals, and on the preventive measures limiting harmful exposures to chemicals.”

More information at: www.ehjournal.net/content/10/1/9.