Air pollution is responsible for over R4-billion in health costs, the department of environmental affairs said on Monday. “Health care costs associated with the burning of fossil fuels amount to R4-billion,” said the department’s air quality nation manager Peter Lukey in Vanderbijlpark. Lukey said the poor were disproportionally affected by air pollution. “They carry a double burden because firstly they are poor and secondly they are sick.” Lukey said the poor often lived in settlements which were downwind from industrial zones. – Sapa

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