May 27, 2010
The Question
What are the health impacts of air pollution in Delhi, India and how do they compare with the impacts in Philadelphia, PA?
What we found
Air pollution has a smaller effect on deaths in Delhi than in Philadelphia. However, in Delhi it has a greater impact on younger age groups, so it is associated with more life-years lost there than in Philly.
Why it matters
Estimates of the health impacts of air pollution in developing countries are often extrapolated from studies done in the United States and other industrialized nations, but this analysis-based on data from Delhi-suggests that approach may provide policymakers with misleading results.
