Air pollution: Check out the cities with the worst rates in the world

The image you see at the opening of this story reveals a major problem that, unfortunately, is part of modern life: pollution. Interestingly, the photograph is from the city of Tehran, Iran, which was not even mentioned among the most polluted places in the world.

For a better understanding of the problem, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) announcement last week, 223, 000 people died of lung cancer caused by exposure to pollution in 2010. Of this impressive figure, it is estimated that half of deaths occurred in China or other parts of East Asia.

WHO points out that contact with air pollution is increasingly harmful around the world, especially in industrialized countries. In addition to this revelation, the organization puts exposure to pollution (which is simply the fact that you go out on the street and breathe) on the definitive list of the main contributors to cancer development in the world population. This contact is already more dangerous to health than passive smoking.

Pollution around the world

Image Source: Reproduction / Quartz

Pollution is measured from the number of particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter suspended in air. Interestingly, the data released by WHO and compiled in the table above by the Quartz website show that, contrary to popular belief, it is the small cities that have the highest pollution rates.

The explanation for this phenomenon lies in the massive presence of industries in or near these cities. This is exactly the case with Ahwaz in southwestern Iran, which has much higher air pollution rates from cities famous for this problem, such as New Delhi, India, or Beijing, China.

Although no South American city appeared in the survey, it is worth remembering that São Paulo also suffers from pollution, with an index that amounts to smoking almost 1, 500 cigarettes per year, as shown here.