Health risk and disease burden attributable to long-term global fine-mode particles

Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) pollution has long been a global environmental problem and still poses a great threat to public health. This study investigates global spatiotemporal variations in PM2.5 using the newly developed satellite-derived PM2.5 dataset from 1998 to 2018. An integrated exposure–response (IER) model was employed to examine the characteristics of PM2.5-related deaths caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), lung cancer (LC), and stroke in adults (age≥25), as well as lower respiratory infection (LRI) in children (age≤5). The results showed that high annual PM2.5 concentrations were observed mainly in East Asia and South Asia. Over the 19-year period, PM2.5 concentrations constantly decreased in developed regions, but increased in most developing regions. Approximately 84% of the population lived in regions where PM2.5 concentrations exceeded 10 μg/m3. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the population (>60%) in East and South Asia was consistently exposed to PM2.5 levels above 35 μg/m3. PM2.5 exposure was linked to 3.38 (95% UI: 3.05–3.70) million premature deaths globally in 2000, a number that increased to 4.11 (95% UI: 3.55–4.69) million in 2018. Premature deaths related to PM2.5 accounted for 6.54%−7.79% of the total cause of deaths worldwide, with a peak in 2011. Furthermore, developing regions contributed to the majority (85.95%–95.06%) of PM2.5-related deaths worldwide, and the three highest-ranking regions were East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Globally, IHD and stroke were the two main contributors to total PM2.5-related deaths, followed by COPD, LC, and LRI.