Geelong residents indirectly ‘smoke’ 89 cigarettes a year through air pollution a study has found.
The study, done by HouseFresh, reviewed data on average PM2.5 concentrations in cities worldwide from AQICN.org and converted it to the equivalent number of cigarettes passively smoked per year in terms of negative health effects using a formula from Berkeley Earth.
In Australia, only Darwin (133) and Melbourne (103) ranked worse than Geelong, according to the findings.
Larger cities such as Sydney (66), Perth (28) and Brisbane (86) came in at less than Geelong.
“Outside of Darwin, many of the cities with the worst air quality – Melbourne and Geelong, for example – are located in the state of Victoria,” the study said.
“While the decline in smoking over the last 20 years has been one of the great public health achievements of the 21st century, worsening air pollution has offset many of the gains that falling smoking incidence has had on general respiratory health.
“Due to increased wildfires, rising vehicle and industrial emissions, and domestic wood-burning appliances, living in some of the world’s most populous cities can have the equivalent effect of smoking hundreds of cigarettes a year.
“Many of the cities with the worst air pollution are in fast-growing, developing economies, while the cities with the cleanest air are wealthier cities in service-oriented economies.
Air pollution is one of the greatest threats to human health in the world and kills more people each year than tobacco, car accidents or diabetes.”
However, Geelong, and Australia for that matter, ranked low on a worldwide scale compared to other cities around the world.
Dhaka in Bangladesh came in a staggering 1176 ‘cigarettes’ per year while Baghdad (Iraq) was 1009, N’Djamena (Chad) was 909, Delhi (India) was 894 and Manama (Bahrain) rounded out the top five with 796.
To read the entire report, go to housefresh.com/secondhand-smoke-world-map/
