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Outdoor air pollution among top global health risks in 2010: risks especially high in India and other developing countries of Asia

This new analysis identifies especially high risk levels in India and the developing countries of Asia where air pollution levels are the highest in the world. Among the risk factors studied in the GBD, outdoor air pollution ranked 5th in mortality and 7th in health burden in India where it contributed to 627,000 deaths and 17.7 million healthy years of life lost in 2010. It documents as well that household air pollution from the burning of solid fuels is responsible for a substantial burden of disease in low- and middle income countries. The analysis found that reducing the burden of disease due to air pollution in Asia will require substantial decreases in the high levels of air pollution in those regions.