A new report has found that scores of people are dying in China in what could prove to be a public health nightmare.

An estimated total of 2.8 million people have died from cancer in 2015 in China, and there are 4.3 million new cancer cases with lung cancer leading the way — and experts are blaming the country’s massive smog problem, according to a Medical Daily report.

A team of scientists from the American Cancer Society, University of Sydney, and National Cancer Center Beijing examined data from 72 cancer registries to determine how many people died of cancer in China last year. The team examined the years 2009 through 2011, and looked at 6.5 percent of the population to get an accurate depiction of the overall rate of cancer deaths — and what they found was alarming to say the least.

They found that China represented 22 percent of new cancer cases on Earth, and 27 percent of all cancer deaths. About 57 percent of the cancers were lung, stomach, liver, and esophageal — in the United States, that rate is just 18 percent.

“Cancer incidence and mortality have been increasing in China, making cancer the leading cause of death since 2010 and a major public health problem in the country,” the researchers stated.

China’s infamous problem with heavy smog, which has only been getting worse, is most likely a heavy factor in those cancer rates.

“Outdoor air pollution, considered to be among the worst in the world, indoor air pollution through heating and cooking using coal and other biomass fuels, and the contamination of soil and drinking water mean that the Chinese population is exposed to many environmental carcinogens,” the researchers added.