Mexico: Air pollution contributed to 38,000 deaths last decade

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda) reported that at least 20 cities in that country caused air pollution in the last decade some 38 000 deaths from lung diseases. The agency also explained that environmental pollution is a federal public health problem. According to Cemda, this is due to environmental pollution costs accounted equivalent to 4.4 percent of GDP in the North American country. In addition, the Mexican Environmental Law Center reported that in that country exposure to air pollution caused 38 000 deaths during 2001-2005. The deaths were due to cardiopulmonary disease, lung cancer and respiratory infections.

That is, 5 000 of these deaths were children. In addition, 6 out of 10 deaths occurred in metropolitan areas of the Valley of Mexico, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca.