Air Pollution and Urban Environment

Throughout the year, we have added to the growing body of evidence on the health benefits of urban green spaces: living near green areas reduces the risk of suffering a stroke (1); respecting the 3-30-300 rule improves mental health and reduces medication use (2); and street trees are associated with lower mortality rates (3). Noise can also kill: data from 749 European cities show that 60 million people are exposed to unhealthy noise levels, and 3,600 deaths from heart disease could be avoided each year if these cities did not exceed the maximum levels recommended by the WHO (4). In this sense, the health benefits of pandemic lockdowns in terms of reducing noise and air pollution in cities were offset by the decrease in physical activity (5). Our studies in India provide new evidence on the detrimental impact of household air pollution on lung function in young adults (6).

1. Avellaneda-Gómez C. Environ Int.
2. Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. Environ Res.
3. Donovan GH. Environ Int.
4. Khomenko S. Environ Int.
5. Koch S. Environ Poll.
6. Ranzani OT. Environ Int.

Research

Building the health of the future

Programmes

Transdisciplinary groups