Cutting emissions is not the only way to save lives from air pollution, according to new study

Posted on Tuesday 7 April 2026

While reducing exposure to pollutants is critical, tools such as universal access to quality healthcare and poverty reduction have been a crucial, often overlooked piece of the puzzle in saving lives over the last 30 years.

International focus

The research, published in The Lancet Planetary Health and led by researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York, challenges the international focus on air pollution.

The research shows that a population’s capacity to be harmed by air pollution is determined by a complex web of socioeconomic and health factors, including pre-existing medical conditions, smoking, and the quality and accessibility of medical care. In some regions where air quality has not improved, air pollution mortality rates have still dropped exclusively because of reductions in these vulnerability factors.

“While cleaning our air remains a critical goal, our findings demonstrate that reducing emissions is only part of the solution”, said Dr Chris Malley, lead author of the study from the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York. 

Poverty reduction

“To improve public health, we must also focus on the factors that make people susceptible to harm. Integrating healthcare improvements and poverty reduction into air quality strategies is an essential tool for protecting the world's most vulnerable populations from the deadly effects of air pollution.”

Key Findings:

• Between 1990 and 2019, global air pollution mortality rates decreased by 45%. Approximately 52% of the decrease in global air pollution mortality rates was due to reductions in vulnerability, rather than just lower pollution levels.
• Without the global actions that reduced people's vulnerability to air pollution, an estimated 1.7 million more people would have died from air pollution-related causes in 2019 alone.
• Global poverty plummeted from 45% in 1990 to 21% in 2019, acting as a massive, unintended shield against the health burdens of smog.
• Public health efforts such as reducing obesity, cutting smoking rates, and treating hypertension are rarely included in air pollution strategies, despite their significant impact on reducing mortality.

Social factors

The study also highlights the boost to public health that comes from reducing air pollution exposure and increasing people’s resilience to air pollution at the same time. Both Europe and North America saw similar decreases in air pollution exposure between 1990 and 2019. However, the reduction in air pollution-attributable mortality rates in Europe was almost double those achieved in North America because Europe reduced vulnerability through healthcare and social factors much more effectively.

The study concludes that air quality strategies must evolve to include interventions that reduce non-air-pollution health determinants to complement traditional exposure reduction efforts.