Study reveals Centurion residents breathe in toxic air equivalent to smoking 614 cigarettes annually
South Africans are unknowingly inhaling the equivalent of hundreds of cigarettes each year as air pollution reaches alarming levels in several cities, a new global study reveals.
According to research by HouseFresh, residents in Centurion are breathing in air that is so polluted, it equates to smoking 614 cigarettes annually.
In Vereeniging, the figure stands at 564, while Bloemfontein residents are inhaling the equivalent of 508 cigarettes per year.
The study uses data from Berkeley Earth, which estimates that breathing in PM2.5 air pollution at 22 µg/m³ for one day is equivalent to smoking a single cigarette.
PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter that penetrates deep into the lungs and bloodstream, causing severe health impacts including heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
Environmental health campaigner for NGO groundWork, Mafoko Phomane, told IOL that everyone has the responsibility to ensure that South Africans have clean air.
“The causes of air pollution are anthropogenic, which means they are due to human activities. The burning of fossil fuels is a major driver of air pollution. Johannesburg has a lot of industrial activity, including waste, transport and more,” Phomane said.
She added that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is mandated to give effect to Section 24 of the Constitution, which denotes that: “Everyone has the right to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation.”
Phomane added that air pollution is a silent public emergency. “It is responsible for seven to eight million premature deaths each year. Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter contributes to ill health, including cancer.”
Air quality in Johannesburg equates to smoking 398 cigarettes per year, while in Pretoria the number is 325. Even Cape Town, often perceived as having cleaner air, sees its residents indirectly smoking 133 cigarettes a year.
“Air pollution is silently damaging South African lungs,” HouseFresh warned. The analysis was aimed at making the health implications of polluted air more tangible for the public.
South Africa’s industrial hubs and traffic-heavy metros dominate the continent’s worst-affected cities, as shown in the ranking. Klerksdorp, 265, Polokwane, 247, and Rustenburg, 244 also made the list.
IOL News