Deaths and years of disability from exposure to air pollution increased 31 percent worldwide since 1990, according to a study published Aug. 9 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
With a focus on strokes and ischemic heart disease, researchers analyzed 30 years of disability and mortality data related to exposure to particle matter pollution from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study.
Years of heart disease-related disability and premature deaths from exposure to particle pollution increased to 8.9 million in 2019 from 6.8 million in 1990, researchers found.
The study revealed that men have been more likely to die from particle pollution exposure than women, and that death rates among men are increasing more quickly; and that people in wealthier countries were less likely to die from the pollution but more likely to live with heart-related disabilities from the exposure.