Air Pollution Linked to Higher Dementia Risk in Harvard Analysis

Breathing polluted air was linked to an increased risk for dementia, underscoring the potential for stricter air quality measures to prevent conditions like Alzheimer’s disease that afflict millions of Americans.

Chronic exposure to air containing high levels of fine particles was consistently associated with dementia, according to researchers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health who conducted an analysis of 14 earlier studies. Even when the average annual levels of particles were below a US Environmental Protection Agency standard — 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air — the relationship with dementia persisted.

Some 57 million people worldwide have ...