A study by nonprofit Berkeley Earth attributes most death in China are due to air pollution, as most Chinese die of respiratory-related causes such as heart attack, lung cancer, stroke, and asthma.

The study found out that much of the Beijing's air pollution came from industrial areas, as 7 of the most air-polluted cities can also be found in China. 

The study is due to be published in the upcoming version of the journal PLOS One.

Berkeley Earth Scientific Director and study co-author Richard Muller said in a news release that "air pollution is the greatest environmental disaster in the world today."

Almost 1.6 million lives a year are taken by air pollution making the death toll to 4,400 people a day. The most deadly pollutant based on the study comes in the form of tiny particles gathered from every place where there are electric power plants and heating elements like fossil fuels used in homes and factories.  These minute particles enter the lungs and bloodstream that causes illness from asthma to heart disease.

The airborne particles called PM2.5s resemble those of the sulfur dioxide which are less than 2.5 microns in diameter and find its ways to the human lungs via the bloodstream.  This originated mostly from burning coals coming from the northeast corridor extending from Shanghai to north Beijing.

According to the study of the American Environmental Protection Agency, 92% of Chinese population experienced 120 hours or may be more than, of unhealthy air and that 38% experienced average concentrations that were unhealthy over the fourth month period starting April 5, 2014, to August 5, 2014.