The West's cleaner air is being paid for in hundreds of thousands of lives in the Global South.
April 17, 2026
Original Paper
Global supply chain relocation reshaped PM2.5 pollution and human health risks
SSRN · 6583025
The Takeaway
When developed nations move their manufacturing to places like India and Southeast Asia, they aren't just moving factories; they are moving mortality. This study quantifies a 'health leakage' that resulted in over 207,000 premature deaths in 2022 alone due to increased PM2.5 pollution in the Global South. While the North celebrates its environmental gains, the global net result is actually more pollution and more death. It’s a stark calculation that reveals our 'green' supply chains are often just outsourced environmental catastrophes. For regular consumers, it means that 'made in' label carries a hidden price tag measured in human lives.
From the abstract
The current global supply chain (GSC) relocation differs from earlier patterns, as shifts now occur not only from developed to developing economies but increasingly from China to South and Southeast Asia. However, the impacts of current GSC relocation on PM2.5 pollution and the related health burdens across countries remain poorly understood. Here, we quantified these impacts and showed that GSC relocation aggravated global health burdens, leading to a net global increase of 207,105 PM2.5-relate