Study Finds Air Pollution Causes a High Risk for Premature Death

While it is well known that air pollution increases risks of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, a new study has found that the global loss of life expectancy caused by air pollution is higher than other risk factors, such as smoking, infectious diseases, and violence.¹

Researchers examined the link between exposure to pollutants and the occurrence of diseases using an atmospheric chemical mode. They then combined their exposure data with the Global Exposure — Mortality Model, derived from various epidemiological cohort studies.¹

The researchers analyzed the effect of air pollution on 6 categories of disease: lower respiratory tract infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease leading to stroke, and other noncommunicable diseases, including conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.²

The analysis found that cardiovascular diseases had 43% of the shortened lives due to air pollution worldwide—the largest proportion of shortened lives due to air pollution.²

They also found that older people are affected the most, with the exception of deaths in children aged 5 years and younger in low income countries. Globally, approximately 75% of deaths attributed to air pollution occur in people over age 60 years, according to the researchers.²

Geographically, the results of their investigation show that the mortality caused by ambient air pollution is highest in East Asia (35%) and South Asia (32%), followed by Africa (11%), Europe (9%), and North and South America (6%). The lowest mortality rates were found in Australia (1.5%), which the authors attributed to the country’s strict air quality standards.¹

In addition to their geographic analysis, the researchers found that air pollution caused 8.8 million premature deaths worldwide in 2015, corresponding to an average 2.9-year reduction in life expectancy per capita. To put that in context, the researchers noted that tobacco smoking reduces life expectancy by an average of 2.2 years, HIV/AIDS by 0.7 years, and parasitic and vector-borne diseases by 0.6 years.¹

“Air pollution exceeds malaria as a cause of premature death by a factor of 19,” said Jos Lelieveld, PhD, director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and first author of the study, in a statement. “It exceeds violence by a factor of 17, and HIV/AIDS by a factor of 9. Given the huge impact on public health and the global population, one could say that our results indicate an air pollution pandemic.”¹

Almost 2/3 of the deaths caused by air pollution are avoidable, according to the researchers. They estimated that the average global life expectancy would increase by more than a year if the emissions from the use of fossil fuels were eliminated.¹

REFERENCES

1. Air pollution is one of the world’s most dangerous health risks [news release]. Max Planck Gesellschaft, March 3, 2020.https://www.mpg.de/14551937/air-pollution-health-risk. Accessed March 11, 2020.
2. The world faces an air pollution ‘pandemic’ [news release]. European Society of Cardiology; March 3, 2020.https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/The-world-faces-an-air-pollution-pandemic. Accessed March 11, 2020.