Environmental factors, including pollution and heat waves caused by climate change, are the cause of approximately 13 percent of deaths in Europe, said the European Environment Agency on 8 September. Data from 2012 (the latest available) shows that 630,000 deaths within the 27 European Countries and Britain were caused by environmental factors. “These deaths are preventable and can be significantly reduced through efforts to improve environmental quality,” the EEA reported.
One of the greatest environmental factors that plays a part in over 400,000 premature deaths in the EU annually is air pollution. This is high considering that 100,000 deaths in the US are attributed to environmental factors each year. The population of the EU stands at around 450 million, while the US has 320 million people.
Long-term exposure to environmental pollutants, such as fumes, ash and smoke, can cause a huge range of conditions including lung disease, diabetes and even cancer. And while Europe’s levels of pollution fell drastically during the COVID-19 lockdown, this is likely to be temporary and only highlights the extent of the problem. Particularly as it looks like most European countries will miss their targets to reduce air pollutants in the next decade.
An expert from SUPPLEMENTSCOUNTS.COM recently made a statement highlighting the interdependence between the natural environment and human health, and the risk of diseases being passed to humans from animals. “COVID-19 has been a real eye opener when it comes to the potential repercussions of environmental degradation, and particularly the meat trade.
We are all in this together and need to look after our health with regular exercise, and ensuring that we consume enough nutrition and supplements to keep our immunity systems in shape.”
While Europe’s drinking water is of consistently high quality, the region is experiencing numerous other issues that can have potentially disastrous effects on human health. One is the release of antibiotics via waste-water treatment plants, which is likely to be contributing to the 25,000 deaths in the EU each year caused by complications due to drug-resistance.
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