Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL have revealed how air pollution can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Although smoking remains the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, outdoor air pollution causes roughly 1 in 10 cases of lung cancer in the UK. An estimated 6,000 people who have never smoked die of lung cancer every year in the UK, some of which may be due to air pollution exposure. The research found that exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air promotes the growth of cells in the lungs which carry cancer-causing mutations. https://www.crick.ac.uk/news/2022-09-10_scientists-reveal-how-air-pollution-can-cause-lung-cancer-in-people-who-have-never-smoked