The Effects of Air Pollution upon Public Health

Air pollution is a ubiquitous hazard in most parts of the world. Decades of epidemiological research have provided evidence on the long-term health effect of exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and ozone, and household air pollution from domestic solid fuel use for cooking. The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) estimated that ambient and household air pollution together accounted for about 4.6 million premature deaths and 147 million disability adjusted life years in 2017, representing the top environmental risk factor and the fifth leading risk factor for poor health globally. This chapter first describes the key concepts and methodology related to disease burden estimation in epidemiology, with a specific focus on the scope of the GBD; then, the existing evidence on the specific health effects of different air pollutants are examined, followed by a note on the limitations of the evidence and future research needs.