People living in rural areas are as likely to die prematurely from the effects of poor air quality as those living in cities, a new study on North India has claimed.
The study found that the sources of pollution in urban versus rural communities may be somewhat different, but the results are the same - high mortality linked to circulatory and respiratory problems.
The authors modelled concentrations of two key pollutants in the northern part of the country - fine particles generated by incomplete combustion of various fuels and ozone, which forms in the air also as a byproduct of combustion.
They then extrapolated premature mortality rates, using data from the Global Burden of Disease, a worldwide consortium that measures the health effects of pollutants and other adverse factors.