31 May 2016
WHO Report Examines Public Health Impacts of Chemicals
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A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that 1.3 million lives and 43 million disability-adjusted life-years were lost in 2012 due to exposure to certain chemicals.

The actual figure may be much higher, says WHO, since data is available for only a small number of chemical exposures.

PHE-chemicals-210px25 May 2016: A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that 1.3 million lives and 43 million disability-adjusted life-years were lost in 2012 due to exposure to certain chemicals. The actual figure may be much higher, according to WHO, since data is available for only a small number of chemical exposures.

The report, titled ‘The Public Health Impact of Chemicals: Knowns and Unknowns,’ was released by WHO’s International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) on the occasion of the annual meeting of WHO’s governing body, the World Health Assembly (WHA), which convened from 23-28 May 2016, in Geneva, Switzerland. WHA 69 took up the health sector’s role in the sound management of chemicals.

The report notes that reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and specifically relates to target 12.4 (achieving the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes by 2020), target 3.9 (by 2030 substantially reducing the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination), and target 6.3 (improving water quality by 2030 by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials).

The report finds that unintentional poisonings are estimated to cause 193,000 deaths annually, mostly from preventable exposures to chemicals such as heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, paints, detergents and kerosene, yet only 47% of countries have a poison center. It also finds that addressing lead exposure would prevent 9.8% of intellectual disability, 4% of ischemic heart disease and 4.6% of stroke in the population, yet many countries still do not regulate lead in paint, and that occupational carcinogens are estimated to cause between 2-8% of all cancers, with 17$ of all lung cancers attributable to household air pollution and 7% to occupational carcinogens.

The report includes examples of effective interventions to prevent death and diseases caused by chemicals, and the economic benefits to be gained. [Publication: The Public Health Impact of Chemicals: Knowns and Unknowns] [WHA 69]

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