In recent decades, epidemiological and experimental research has yielded plenty of evidence that air pollution exposure is a key risk factor for asthma flare-ups and, potentially, new cases.1,2 A study in Environmental Health Perspectives offers the first estimates of the global asthma burden that may be attributable to specific air pollutants.3 Although preliminary, the authors’ conclusions are sobering. They estimated that in 2015, some 9–23 million asthma-induced emergency room visits worldwide resulted from ozone exposure, 5–10 million resulted from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, and 400,000–500,000 resulted from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure.

Published Jul 17, 2019

Seltenrich, N. (2019). Asthma actors: Estimating how much specific air pollutants contribute to ER visits. Environmental Health Perspectives, 127(7), 9–10. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4799