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Meta-Analysis Links Air Pollutants to Elevated Dementia Risk
CANADA, JUL 25 – Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and soot raises dementia risk by up to 17%, affecting millions worldwide, according to a meta-analysis of nearly 30 million people.
- PAUL, Minn., July 24 -- British researchers said Thursday they found significant evidence of a long-suspected link between air pollution and dementia, analyzing 51 studies with over 29 million participants.
- Amid rising climate concerns, early work tied smoke to cognitive decline, establishing an uncertain link between wildfire smoke and dementia, last year researchers linked smoke inhalation to cognitive risk.
- Researchers found every 1 µg/m³ increase in wildfire PM2.5 raised dementia risk by 18%, while every 10 µg/m³ rise in PM2.5 lifted risk by 17%.
- In 2020, a heavy fire year, smoke drove nearly 37,000 excess deaths, and emergency hospitalizations climbed after days in dense smoke, Mickley and co-authors noted.
- By 2050, dementia cases are expected to triple to 153 million, and researchers pinpoint ages 45 to 69 as a critical window for pollution-driven brain damage.
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Medical XpressReposted by 
University of Cambridge
University of CambridgeLong-term exposure to outdoor air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia
An analysis of studies incorporating data from almost 30 million people has highlighted the role that air pollution—including that coming from car exhaust emissions—plays in increased risk of dementia.
Overlooked climate-change danger: Wildfire smoke — Harvard Gazette
Health Overlooked climate-change danger: Wildfire smoke Max Larkin Harvard Staff Writer July 21, 2025 7 min read Researchers rush to get hands around multiple serious health risks as blazes mount — and get bigger Loretta Mickley first started thinking about smoke in the summer of 2002. “I was on vacation in Western Massachusetts, and on that day, there was something kind of sparkly about the air,” …
·Harvard, United States
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Total News Sources16
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Left
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Left
60% Left
L 60%
C 40%
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