US is the country most vulnerable to air pollution anywhere in the world

The US has topped a list of 175 countries of where citizens are most at risk from the adverse health effects of air pollution, according to a new study.

Exposure to air pollution can cause chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer, leading to reduced life expectancy.

New research from Healthnews reveals a global air pollution vulnerability index score for the population of each country studied, which was obtained using data such as the size of the population most vulnerable to it (which includes children and older adults), fertility rates, the rate of cardiovascular and chronic respiratory disease and cases of lung, trachea and bronchus cancer.

It also included each country's Human Development Index score, which measures health, knowledge and standard of living.

Using all this, an index score between 0 and 100 was given to each country; the higher the rating, the more vulnerable a country's population is to the health risks posed by air pollution.

The US scored 49.30, the highest of all 175 countries researched, with the second highest Afghanistan (48.75).

The US' population is the world's most at risk from the adverse health effects of air pollution / Photo by HotPhotoPie, iStock

The Healthnews report said: "More than 35 million Americans live with chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

"Over 610,000 people in the US have lung and bronchus cancer, according to 2021 data. Smoking and occupational exposures, alongside air pollution, are the common causes of these conditions.

"However, despite considerable efforts to improve air quality in the country following the introduction of the Clean Air Act in 1970, one in three Americans still breathe polluted air."

The US also topped the rankings for chronic respiratory disease prevalence in its population.

The UK ranked in 14th overall with a score of 43.22; the best performing country was Singapore with an index score of 17.92, more than four points below the next best performer which was the Maldives (22.38).

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