BREATHING outdoors can give you cancer, the World Health Organisation ruled yesterday.

    The air has become so polluted it will be officially classified as “carcinogenic” alongside cigarette smoke.

    WHO researchers said 223,000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide in 2010 resulted from air pollution — and there was also convincing evidence it increases the risk of bladder cancer.

    The International Agency for Research on Cancer said outdoor air pollution would now be classified in its Group 1 carcinogens.

    That ranks it alongside more than 100 other known cancer-causing substances, including asbestos, plutonium, ultraviolet radiation and tobacco smoke.

    Kurt Straif of the IARC said: “We now know outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths. The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances.”

    Air pollution is already known to increase risks for a wide range of illnesses including heart diseases but this is the first time it has officially been linked with cancer.

    IARC director Christopher Wild said the ruling — which applies worldwide — should spur governments into action. He said: “There are effective ways to cut air pollution and, given the scale of the exposure affecting people worldwide, this should send a strong signal to the international community.”

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责任编辑： 高菲