12.6M die each year due to unhealthy environments

UNITED NATIONS: An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012, nearly one in four of total global deaths, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Tuesday.

“Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries,” Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here, citing a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).