Air Pollution:

• #1 environmental cause of premature mortality

• Contributes to:
  • Worldwide:
    • 7 Million premature deaths each year (1 out of every 8 deaths)
  • U.S.
    • 50,000 premature deaths each year

Smoking:

• Prevalence:
  • Worldwide:
    • Total current world population: ~7 Billion
    • # Smokers: 1 Billion (or 1 in 7)
  • U.S.
    • Total current U.S. population: 320 Million
    • # Smokers: 42 Million (or 1 in 8)

• Life Expectancy
  • Smokers live 10 years less (typically)
  • In the U.S., smoking contributes to 400,000 premature deaths each year

VOCS:

• Indoors: levels are potentially 5x higher than outdoors

Carbon Monoxide:

• Binds to hemoglobin 210 times more readily than oxygen