ArticleCardiovascular research2020
Loss of life expectancy from air pollution compared to other risk factors: a worldwide perspective.
Article in Cardiovascular research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 192 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
192 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Influence of Social Determinants of Health, Environmental, and Healthcare Resources on Life Expectancy in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Countries: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of indoor air pollution on DNA damage and chromosome stability: a systematic review.Archives of toxicology · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of indoor air purification intervention in improving cardiovascular health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The Science of the total environment · 2021Pooled it
- Ambient Air Pollution and Respiratory Health in Sub-Saharan African Children: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Breathing in harm: current insights into the effects of air pollution on cardiorespiratory health.Medical gas research · 2027Review
- Air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: a narrative review of epidemiological and mechanistic findings.Journal of environmental health science & engineering · 2026Review
- Non optimal temperatures and chronic cardiovascular diseases.Seminars in immunopathology · 2026Review
- Validation and Correction of PMACS environmental Au · 2026Article
- Environmental pollution, apolipoprotein A-1 autoantibodies and cardiovascular risk: evidence from a geospatial cross-sectional study.Atherosclerosis plus · 2026Article
- Air quality and health implications of exposure to ultrafine particle pollution.Cardiovascular research · 2026Article
- Regional Disparities in Stroke Hospitalization and Mortality Associated with Long-Term Fine Particulate Matter Exposure: A Nationwide Ecological Study in Spain.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Atmospheric Mixing Controls Air Pollution Chemistry and Mitigation Efficacy in High-Latitude Cities.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Residual cardiovascular risk in coronary artery disease: from pathophysiology to established and novel therapies.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Mortality Burden and Years of Life Lost Attributable to Air Pollution in Liguria, Italy: A Health Impact Assessment.Journal of xenobiotics · 2026Article
- The impact of environmental pollution and climate change on hypertension: a position paper by the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Environment in Hypertension.Cardiovascular research · 2026Review
- Airborne Particulate Matter Sensing via Laser Filament-Interaction and Deep Learning.ACS ES&T air · 2026Article
- Influence of Ventilation Rate and Indoor Air Mixing on Ozone-Human Skin Chemistry.ACS ES&T air · 2026Article
- Nontargeted Analysis Reveals Organic Compounds That Drive Oxidative Potential in Ambient Particulate Matter.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Global food trade can mitigate substantial health burdens attributed to ambient PMNature food · 2026Article
- Chronic PMScientific reports · 2026Article
132 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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- Erratum issuedCorrigendum.2020
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsLong-term exposure of humans to air pollution enhances the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. A novel Global Exposure Mortality Model (GEMM) has been derived from many cohort studies, providing much-improved coverage of the exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We applied the GEMM to assess excess mortality attributable to ambient air pollution on a global scale and compare to other risk factors. METHODS AND
resultsWe used a data-informed atmospheric model to calculate worldwide exposure to PM2.5 and ozone pollution, which was combined with the GEMM to estimate disease-specific excess mortality and loss of life expectancy (LLE) in 2015. Using this model, we investigated the effects of different pollution sources, distinguishing between natural (wildfires, aeolian dust) and anthropogenic emissions, including fossil fuel use. Global excess mortality from all ambient air pollution is estimated at 8.8 (7.11-10.41) million/year, with an LLE of 2.9 (2.3-3.5) years, being a factor of two higher than earlier estimates, and exceeding that of tobacco smoking. The global mean mortality rate of about 120 per 100 000 people/year is much exceeded in East Asia (196 per 100 000/year) and Europe (133 per 100 000/year). Without fossil fuel emissions, the global mean life expectancy would increase by 1.1 (0.9-1.2) years and 1.7 (1.4-2.0) years by removing all potentially controllable anthropogenic emissions. Because aeolian dust and wildfire emission control is impracticable, significant LLE is unavoidable.
conclusionAmbient air pollution is one of the main global health risks, causing significant excess mortality and LLE, especially through cardiovascular diseases. It causes an LLE that rivals that of tobacco smoking. The global mean LLE from air pollution strongly exceeds that by violence (all forms together), i.e. by an order of magnitude (LLE being 2.9 and 0.3 years, respectively).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.