Global Chemicals Outlook - UNEP

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Despite ubiquitous exposure to chemicals in both developed
and developing nations, little is known about the total disease
burden attributable to chemicals. In 2011, the World Health
Organization (WHO) reported that globally, 4.9 million deaths
(8.3% of total) and 86 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)
(5.7% of total) were attributable to environmental exposure and
management of selected chemicals in 2004 for which data were
available. This fi gure includes indoor smoke from solid fuel use,
outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke, with 2.0, 1.2 and
0.6 million deaths/year. These are followed by occupational
particulates, chemicals involved in acute poisonings, and
pesticides involved in self-poisonings, with 375,000, 240,000
and 186,000 deaths/year respectively.
Estimates for selected chemicals (including pesticides) involved
in unintentional acute and occupational poisonings, a limited
number of occupational carcinogens and particulates and lead,
correspond to a total of 964,000 deaths and 20,986,153
DALYs, corresponding to 1.6% of the total deaths and 1.4% of
the total burden of disease worldwide.
To compare, among the global top ten leading causes of death
in 2004, HIV/AIDS caused 2 million deaths, tuberculosis caused
1.5 million deaths, road traffi c accidents caused 1.27 million
deaths, and malaria caused 0.9 million deaths (WHO, 2008).
This global estimate is an underestimate of the real burden
attributable to chemicals. Only a small number of chemicals
were included in the WHO analysis due to limitations in data
availability. Critical chemicals not incorporated in the analysis
due to data gaps include mercury, dioxins, organic chlorinated
solvents, PCBs, and chronic pesticide exposures as well as health
impacts from exposure to local toxic waste sites.