washington exposure to above average levels of outdoor air pollution increases the risk of premature death by 20 per cent and mortality risk from cardiovascular disease by 17 per cent according to a studythe research published in the journal plos one shows that along with high blood pressure diabetes and smoking environmental factors such as air pollution are highly predictive of peoples chances of dying especially from heart attack and stroke using wood or keroseneburning stoves not properly ventilated through a chimney to cook food or heat the home also increased overall risk of death by 23 per cent and 9 per cent and cardiovascular death risk by 36 per cent and 19 per cent the researchers said living far from specialised medical clinics and near busy roads also increased risk of death they saidresearchers from nyu grossman school of medicine and the icahn school of medicine at mount sinai us collected personal and environmental health data from 50045 mostly poor rural villagers living in the northeast golestan region of iranall study participants were over age 40 and agreed to have their health monitored during annual visits with researchers dating as far back as 2004the study not only identifies environmental factors that pose the greatest risk to heart and overall health but also adds muchneeded scientific evidence from people in low and middle income countries traditional research on environmental risk factors the researchers noted has favoured urban populations in highincome countries with much greater access to modern health care servicescompared with those who have easier access to specialised medical services those living farther away from clinics with catheterisation labs able to unblock clogged arteries for example were at increased risk of death by 1 per cent for every 10 kilometers of distancethe study also showed that the onethird of study participants who lived within 500 metres of a major roadway had a 13 per cent increased risk of deathour study highlights the role that key environmental factors of indooroutdoor air pollution access to modern health services and proximity to noisy polluted roadways play in all causes of death and deaths from cardiovascular disease in particular said study senior author and cardiologist rajesh vedanthanour findings help broaden the diseaserisk profile beyond age and traditional personal risk factors said vedanthan an associate professor at nyu langone healththe study showed that other environmental factors included in the analysis low neighbourhood income levels increased population density and too much nighttime light exposure were not independent predictors of risk of death despite previous research in mostly urban settings suggesting otherwisethe researchers analysed data gathered through december 2018 they then created a predictive model on overall death risk and death risk from cardiovascular diseasethe researchers plan to continue their analysis and hope to apply the predictive model to other countries with the aim of finetuning its predictive capacitytheir new tool could serve as a guide for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental lifestyle and personal health changes in reducing mortality rates worldwide they said