Around 10 percent of cancers in Europe are related to pollution, in its various forms, and in most cases are preventable, the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported on Monday.
“Exposure to air pollution, passive smoking, ultraviolet rays, asbestos, some chemicals and other pollutants are responsible for more than 10% of cancer cases in Europe,” the organization said in a statement.
However, this number can drastically decrease if existing policies are rigorously updated, particularly in the fight against pollution, according to the organization.
“All environmental and occupational carcinogenic risks can be reduced,” said Gerardo Sánchez, an EEA expert, about the document, the agency’s first on the relationship between cancer and the environment.
Cancers determined by the environment and due to radiation or chemical carcinogens can be reduced to an almost insignificant level“, he declared, during a meeting with the press.
According to data from the AEA, air pollution is responsible for one percent of cases and two percent of deaths, a percentage that rises to nine percent in the case of lung cancer.
Recent studies have also found “a correlation between long-term exposure to particulate matter, a major air pollutant, and leukemia among adults and children,” the agency said.
Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can be inhaled, particularly in poorly ventilated homes, is considered responsible for two percent of cancer cases in the Old Continent.
According to the Agency, ultraviolet rays – mainly of solar origin, but also artificial – are responsible for around four percent of all cancer cases, in particular melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer that has increased considerably in Europe. in the last decades.
Some chemicals used in the workplace and released into the environment are also carcinogenic.
Lead, arsenic, chromium, pesticides, bisphenol A and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), used among other applications in food, are among the most dangerous for the health of Europeans, as is asbestos, which is prohibited in the European Union (EU). since 205, but still present in several buildings.
In the EU, 2.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, of whom 1.3 million die. Europe, which represents about 10% of the world’s population, has 23% of new cases and 20% of deaths.
Source: Observadora
