Number of premature deaths worldwide caused by consumption in G20
nations

Date:
November 2, 2021
Source:
National Institute for Environmental Studies
Summary:
The haze that blurs a blue sky or a beautiful skyline is caused
by particulate matter, often made from pollution, less than 2.5
microns wide. Despite their microscopic size, PM2.5 are responsible
for more than 4 million premature deaths every year. A new study
shows that the pollution caused by consumption in the world's
biggest economies leads to half of those deaths.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The haze that blurs a blue sky or a beautiful skyline is caused by tiny particles called PM2.5. PM2.5 describes particulate matter, often made
from pollution, less than 2.5 microns wide. Despite their microscopic
size, PM2.5 are responsible for more than 4 million premature deaths every year. A new study in Nature Communications led by Japanese researchers
shows that the pollution caused by consumption in the world's biggest
economies leads to half of those deaths.


========================================================================== Their very small size is what makes PM2.5 so dangerous. Easily inhalable,
they accumulate inside the lungs, where they severely increase the
risk of cancer and other deadly diseases. Yet it is the poor that are especially vulnerable to PM2.5 and die prematurely.

"Most deaths are in developing countries, and without international coordination the situation will worsen," said Dr. Keisuke Nansai,
Research Director at the Material Flow Innovation Research Program of
the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan, who had been
a visiting professor at ISA of the University of Sydney, and one of the
lead authors of the study.

While most countries acknowledge they contribute to PM2.5 levels, there is little agreement on how much and thus their financial responsibility. In particular, far harder to measure than the direct production of PM2.5
by factories and cars is the amount caused by consumption.

This is a vital question to answer, says Nansai. Unlike direct production, which first affects the producing nation and then spreads across borders
to neighbouring nations, the PM2.5 caused by consumption may originate
in distant nations and have negligible effects on the consuming nation.

"Pollution in the form of production emissions creates a motive to
implement joint PM2.5 reduction measures in neighbouring countries. Such cooperation is unlikely among countries that are geographically distinct,"
said Nansai.



==========================================================================
G20 members make up more than three quarters of international trade
and the world's economic output. Therefore, Nansai and his colleagues
reasoned, understanding the impact the consumption of these nations has
on PM2.5 levels would provide a reliable benchmark.

Using Eora, a database made nearly a decade earlier to measure global
supply chains around the world, the study mapped out the emissions made
by consumption alone.

The study shows that consumption by the world's most consuming nations,
such as the U.S. and U.K, causes a significant number of premature deaths
in faraway nations, such as China and India, whereas the premature deaths caused by production habits are more common in neighbouring nations like
Mexico and Germany.

COVID-19, the pandemic that has changed the world, is a respiratory
disease that is most lethal to the elderly. Similarly, the premature
victims of PM2.5 are also mostly elderly. However, unlike COVID-19, the
study found another group alarmingly susceptible to the PM2.5 produced
by consumption.

"We found that the consumption of G20 nations was responsible for 78,000 premature deaths of infants [up to 5 years old] worldwide," noted Nansai.

The effect was not too great in most G20 nations, such that the average
age of premature deaths was nearly 70 years old. However, in some
countries, namely, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, premature infant death
was so prevalent that the average age of premature deaths was under 60
years old. Similarly, the average age of premature deaths in India and Indonesia barely crossed this threshold.

Nansai and his colleagues stress that if consumption is not considered,
then most countries will not think they should pay any penalty for
these deaths.

"As long as responsibility for infant deaths due to production emissions
is the only issue pursued, we can find no rationale for nations to
confront the mass death of infants [in faraway nations]," they write in
the study.

Finally, to emphasize the impact that PM2.5 levels from consumption
level alone has on human health, the study concluded that the lifetime consumption of 28 people in G20 nations will cause the premature death
of one person worldwide.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by National_Institute_for_Environmental_Studies. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Keisuke Nansai, Susumu Tohno, Satoru Chatani, Keiichiro Kanemoto,
Shigemi
Kagawa, Yasushi Kondo, Wataru Takayanagi, Manfred
Lenzen. Consumption in the G20 nations causes particulate air
pollution resulting in two million premature deaths annually. Nature
Communications, Nov. 2, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26348-y ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211102125449.htm

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