Even in prosperous Europe, it seems, children are not safe from the effects of pollution and unsafe living conditions. Altogether, these factors claim 100,000 young lives year, according to a survey coordinated by the World Health Organization and published in The Lancet last week (vol 363, p 2032).
The study is the first attempt to measure the childhood death toll in Europe from five environmental factors: outdoor air pollution; indoor air pollution; unsanitary water supplies; exposure to lead; and accidents.
Injuries claimed most lives, more than three-quarters of the total. Even in richer European nations, injuries accounted for…
