The Clean Air Rights Platform Publishes 'Air Pollution and Health Effects: The Black Report'
The Right to Clean Air Platform, formed by 17 institutions operating in health and environment sectors, released its study evaluating air pollution in Turkey and its health impacts between 2016 and 2018.
Released on 7 May World Asthma Day, the report 'Air Pollution and Health Impacts: A Dark Report' focuses on preventable deaths in Turkey through reducing air pollution to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the research, of the total 3.99 million deaths in people over 30 in 2017 (excluding accidents and external injuries), 515,740 were caused by air pollution. Right to Clean Air Platform Coordinator Buket Atlı stated: "In Turkey in 2017, air pollution killed seven times more people than traffic accidents.
The report shows that if air pollution were reduced to WHO guideline values, 12.9% of deaths could be prevented."
The top three provinces with the highest air pollution-related deaths were Istanbul (5,851), Bursa (3,098) and Ankara (2,139). These were followed by Izmir (2,518), Konya (2,082), Manisa (1,957), Mersin (1,628), Balıkesir (1,452), Adana (1,417) and Antalya (1,226).
In 2018, Ardahan was the only province meeting WHO-recommended air pollution limit values. Provinces with good air quality over the last three years, meaning very close to WHO threshold values and meeting national limit values, were Artvin, Rize, Kırşehir and Tunceli.
The report 'Air Pollution and Health Impacts: A Dark Report' also highlighted health problems caused by air pollution. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gamze Varol, representing the Turkish Medical Association among Platform members, stated that children are more affected by air pollution than adults and emphasized that air pollution increases the risk of low birth weight, autism, diabetes (Type 1), sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, COPD, bronchiolitis and bronchitis, pneumonia and intellectual disability in infants.
Lower respiratory tract infections and COPD are among the most common diseases resulting from air pollution. Air pollution accounts for 27.5% of all lower respiratory tract infection deaths and 26.8% of all COPD deaths. It also affects fertility and can cause problems such as miscarriage, infertility and reduced sperm quality.
