Global Urban Temporal Trends in Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Attributable Health Burdens

With much of the world's population residing in urban areas, an understanding of air pollution exposures at the city level can inform mitigation approaches. Previous studies of global urban air pollution have not considered trends in air pollutant concentrations nor corresponding attributable mortality burdens. Authors aimed to estimate trends in fine particulate matter (PM2·5) concentrations and associated mortality for cities globally. Authors use high-resolution annual average PM2.5 concentrations, epidemiologically derived concentration response functions, and country-level baseline disease rates to estimate population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations and attributable cause-specific mortality in 13,160 urban centers between 2000 and 2019.