AKIPRESS.COM - Air pollution, both outside and inside homes, is a silent and prolific killer responsible for the premature death of seven million people each year, including 600,000 children, according to a UN expert on environment and human rights, Financial Times reports.

David Boyd, UN special rapporteur on environment and human rights, said that over six billion people, one-third of them children, are regularly inhaling air so polluted that it puts their life, health and well-being at risk.

"Every hour, 800 people are dying, many after years of suffering from cancer, respiratory illnesses or heart disease directly caused by breathing polluted air," said Boyd, who is also an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Boyd identified seven key steps that countries must take to ensure clean air and fulfil the right to a healthy environment.

These include monitoring air quality and impacts on human health, assessing sources of air pollution; and making information publicly available, including public health advisories.

"Many actions to ensure cleaner air can be designed to simultaneously reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, resulting in a double dividend," he said.