Dirty air stands to shave almost two years off the average life expectancy of a child born today, according to aworldwide overview that finds that nations are making uneven progress toward confronting the problem.Overall, indoor and outdoor air pollution contributed to almost 5 million early deaths in 2017, the Health EffectsInstitute said in its third annual "State of Global Air" report released today. Among the risk factors for early death,it ranks fifth, behind such forces as high blood pressure and tobacco exposure, but ahead of alcoholism andmalnutrition.The highest toll came from exposure to fine particles, technically known as PM2.5 because they are no morethan 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or one-thirtieth the width of a human hair.
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