25 March 2014: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new data estimating that 7 million people died in 2012 as a result of exposure to air pollution, doubling previous estimates, and making air pollution the largest single environmental health risk. WHO reports that the data indicate South-East Asia and the Western Pacific regions have the largest air pollution burden.

According to WHO, the new information includes data from both rural and urban areas, and reveals stronger links between exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular diseases. WHO says the new data incorporate satellite data, ground-level monitoring measurements and data on pollution emissions from key sources, as well as air pollution modeling.

The new information is disaggregated into indoor and outdoor air pollution related deaths. Estimates indicate indoor air pollution was linked to 4.3 million deaths in 2012, in households cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. Outdoor air pollution is estimated to have caused 3.7 million deaths in 2012. [WHO Press Release]