Cleaner Air = Longer Life

Posted by majestic on January 22, 2009

Steps to curb air pollution in the United States are paying off, helping to dramatically increase average life spans, a new study says.

Researchers at Brigham Young University and the Harvard School of Public Health report in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that the average life expectancy in 51 U.S. cities increased nearly three years over recent decades.

“Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable,” says C. Arden Pope III, PhD, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author of the study. “We find that we’re getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality.”

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