PRESS RELEASE
N° 221
IARC: Outdoor air pollution a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths
Lyon/Geneva, 17 October 2013 – The specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), announced today that it has classified outdoor air
pollution as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). 1
After thoroughly reviewing the latest available scientific literature, the world’s leading experts convened by
the IARC Monographs Programme concluded that there is sufficient evidence that exposure to outdoor air
pollution causes lung cancer (Group 1). They also noted a positive association with an increased risk of
bladder cancer.
Particulate matter, a major component of outdoor air pollution, was evaluated separately and was also
classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).
The IARC evaluation showed an increasing risk of lung cancer with increasing levels of exposure to
particulate matter and air pollution. Although the composition of air pollution and levels of exposure can
vary dramatically between locations, the conclusions of the Working Group apply to all regions of the
world
A major environmental health problem
Air pollution is already known to increase risks for a wide range of diseases, such as respiratory and heart
diseases. Studies indicate that in recent years exposure levels have increased significantly in some parts
of the world, particularly in rapidly industrializing countries with large populations. The most recent data
indicate that in 2010, 223 000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide resulted from air pollution. 2
The most widespread environmental carcinogen
“The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances,” says Dr Kurt
Straif, Head of the IARC Monographs Section. “We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major
risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths