Beijing's Olympic Smog Shows Pollution's Effect on Health

As air quality rose and fell, so did blood-clotting factors, study found

May 15, 2012 RSS Feed Print

"Showing that you can achieve these major [pollution] reductions if you are willing to put these controls in place is an important finding in and of itself," Jerrett added.

Previous research has found that decreases in particulate matter in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s were responsible for 15 percent of the increase in life expectancy during this period.

A lot of the pollution-control measures undertaken by the United States and other wealthy industrialized countries for the past 30 years were "low-hanging fruits, and measures now are quite costly," Jerrett added. "People making these decisions want to have certain evidence, and I think this study adds to the body of evidence of the potential health benefits."

More information

To learn more about local air quality and health risks, visit State of the Air 2012.