A new report has revealed that more than 1,100 people a year in the UK are developing the most prevalent form of lung cancer as a result of air pollution.
Exposure to toxic air was attributed to 515 men and 590 women in the UK in 2022 getting adenocarcinoma – now the most dominant of the four main subtypes of lung cancer – an analysis by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency found.
The UK rates of adenocarcinoma cases linked to ambient particulate matter pollution were also higher than in the US and Canada, and four times higher than Finland, which had the lowest rates in northern Europe, according to the analysis.
It is the first time such figures have been compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Health experts, cancer charities and environmental campaigners said the UK findings were “devastating” and should serve as a “wake-up call” to ministers.
Read also: Climate activists fined over protest outside Woodside boss’ home
Paula Chadwick, the chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “This data is as equally shocking as it is important. We have always been aware that air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer, but we can now see how stark the impact truly is. This hard evidence must prompt action.”
Ministers must act to curb air pollution, Chadwick said. “Failure to do so will only see more lives devastated by lung cancer.”
Andrew Haines, a professor of environmental change and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the data emphasised the “imperative” for the government to “address the ongoing impacts of air pollution on health with greater determination”.
Dr Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at World Cancer Research Fund, said the toll of cancer cases caused by toxic air could “only be addressed by a concerted government effort to reduce air pollution”. She said: “We already know pollution is a risk factor for lung cancer, but these figures highlight just how important environmental causes can be when looking at cancer risk.”
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer incidence and cancer mortality worldwide. In 2022, about 2.5 million people were diagnosed with the disease. But the patterns of incidence by subtype have changed dramatically in recent decades.
Of the four main subtypes of lung cancer – adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma and large-cell carcinoma – adenocarcinoma has become the dominant subtype among both men and women, the IARC found.
Adenocarcinoma accounted for 45.6% of global lung cancer cases among men and 59.7% of global lung cancer cases among women in 2022. The respective figures were 39.0% and 57.1% in 2020.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
