Abstract
A significant scourge of our age is pollution. The evolution of pollution has generated both environmental problems, such as climate change, and human health problems, such as increased mortality rates and reduced life expectancy. Pollution has become a global problem. The impact of pollution on human health is considerable. Given that air pollution and ambient air pollution remain at worrying levels, it is considered that current regulations do not provide the expected effectiveness and impact. Thus, in order to ensure a healthy environment and thus increase the life expectancy of the population, measures to reduce the level of air pollution and environmental pollution based on social responsibility and individual responsibility are needed. The aim of this research was to analyze the impact of air pollution and environmental pollution on the life expectancy of the population. For this purpose, both an exploratory and a statistical, quantitative research was carried out. The exploratory research aimed to identify and explore the relationship between the pollution factors considered and cancer mortality and life expectancy. The quantitative analysis aimed to identify and characterize the correlation between pollution factors and life expectancy factors, at the level of Romania. Through exploratory research, the literature was reviewed to identify and select influencing factors. Factors were selected that characterize both air pollution and ambient pollution, as well as factors that characterize the life expectancy of the population. The factors with the highest frequencies of occurrence were selected from the literature reviewed. The influencing factors were grouped into two categories: air pollution factors and environmental pollution factors. For life expectancy, inversely proportional factors were identified, the life expectancy factor and the cancer mortality factor. To describe the relationship between the factors, specific indicators were analyzed. The indicators considered were: CO2 emissions, NOx emissions, fossil fuel consumption, renewable energy consumption, PM2.5 particulate matter, tobacco consumption and cancer mortality and life expectancy. The indicators were taken from World Bank Statistics for 10 countries worldwide. The quantitative analysis aimed to identify and characterize the correlation between pollution factors and life expectancy factors. The following variables were analyzed for air pollution: CO2 emissions, NOx emissions, fossil fuel consumption, renewable energy consumption, PM2.5 particulate matter. For environmental pollution the variable tobacco consumption was analyzed and for life expectancy the variables life expectancy and cancer mortality were considered. The quantitative analysis was performed for Romania. The result of the research was the development of an econometric model that could provide a synthetic representation of the impact of the level of air pollution and ambient pollution on the life expectancy of the population. The econometric model was built based on data obtained for Romania from the World Bank Statistics website. The data were structured by years, from 2000 to 2020. The method used was linear regression. The research carried out measured the level of influence of factors specific to air pollution and environmental pollution on life expectancy. It was found that the factor of renewable energy consumption has a low impact on cancer mortality and reduced life expectancy, while all other factors considered have a significant impact on increased cancer mortality and reduced life expectancy. The result obtained by the research can provide significant contributions to shaping a sustainable development model based on social and individual responsibility. It can be argued that reducing the level of cancer mortality and thus increasing the life expectancy of the population depends both on the actions of all entrepreneurs and on the behavior of the population.