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Mapping the air pollution calamity striking Europe, Asia and North America

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Mapping the air pollution calamity striking Europe, Asia and North America

Stockholm, August 18, 2015 – A series of independent studies have revealed how extensive air pollution is and the harm it poses to human health and national economies. Mapped by Blueair, a global leader in mobile indoor air purification technologies, the latest information shows air pollution is now unequivocally linked to lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and asthma and hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year.

“The evidence of the danger posed by outdoor and indoor air pollution to human health and economic development is compelling and beyond scientific doubt,” said Bengt Rittri, CEO and founder of Blueair. Mr. Rittri created the hi-tech indoor air purification company in the mid-1990s because he believed breathing clean air is a basic human right.

A World Health Organization (WHO) study published this summer estimated the air pollution cost in Europe in 2010 alone at a staggering US1.6 trillion as a result of the approximately 600,000 deaths and diseases it caused. WHO said over 90 percent of citizens in the European region are exposed to annual levels of outdoor fine particulate matter that are above its air quality guidelines.

Elsewhere on the planet, similar studies reproduce similarly alarming findings. 

In the USA, the National Resources Defense Council cited a recent study that found approximately 64,000 people in the United States die prematurely from heart and lung disease every year due to particulate air pollution – more people than die each year in car accidents. And a scientific paper by Berkeley Earth, a research organization based in Berkeley, California, said outdoor air pollution is contributing to the deaths of 4,400 people every day in China, or 1.6 million people a year.

A research team at Sweden's University of Umeå this summer reported discovering a link between dementia and automotive exhaust fumes, while a Blueair study in India in late May revealed that up to 40% of young children living in India’s most polluted cities were suffering impaired lung capacity.

“The big problem is that most people do not see air pollution as a major issue, unless you live in smog beset cities like Beijing or Delhi. Obesity and alcohol grab the headlines, yet people don’t realize the insidious danger posed by modern air pollution. Thanks to a toxic mix of diesel fumes, dust and chemicals, just taking a walk in a modern city is turning men, women and children into passive smokers,” Mr. Rittri said.

Mr. Rittri said that for air pollution is to be addressed effectively, national health authorities need to work harder to flag awareness about the problem and the potential to save lives and reduce health costs. He urged lawmakers to develop better air quality monitoring systems that can be linked to mobile applications such as Blueair’s own air quality App (available for both Apple and Android phones) to allow people to see what is in the air they are breathing.

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Sold in over 50 countries around the world, Blueair delivers home and office users more clean indoor air for enhanced user health and wellbeing faster than any competing air purifier thanks to its commitment to quality, energy efficiency and environmental care. A Blueair air purifier works efficiently, silently to remove 99.97% of allergens, asthma triggers, viruses, bacteria and other airborne pollutants.

Blueair is a world leading producer of air purification solutions for home and professional use

Blueair is a world leading producer of air purification solutions for home and professional use. Founded in Sweden, Blueair delivers innovative, best-in-class, energy efficient products and services sold in over 60 countries around the world. Blueair is part of the Unilever family of brands.

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