A new study shows that improving air quality in the US up to the WHO standards could save more than 140,000 lives in the next 10 years. The study provides the most comprehensive evidence associating air pollution with early death.
This new research builds on a 2017 study tying long-term level of pollution due to inhalable Particulate Matter with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or smaller (PM2.5) and ozone to an increase risk of premature death among the elderly in the US. The team of researchers analyzed data from 68.5 enrollees over the course of 16 years. They then matched participants’ zip codes with air pollution data obtained from their locations. To quantify daily levels of PM2.5 daily pollution for each zip code, the study team factored in land-use data, weather variables, satellite data, and other factors.
The findings, which the team described as “the most robust and reproducible evidence to date” on the link between PM2.5 exposure and early deaths, found that an annual decrease in PM2.5 pollution of 10 micrograms per cube meter led to a 6-7 percent reduction in death risk.
Based on this finding, the authors estimated that reducing the US annual PM2.5 standard to 10 micrograms per cube meter, more than 143,257 lives could be saved in 10 years.
Read more here – https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/more-evidence-of-causal-link-between-air-pollution-and-early-death/
