This is the 49th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.
Clean air is fundamental to health.
Yet the World Health Organization estimates that 99 per cent of the global population live in areas where the pollution exceeds its air quality guidelines.
Pollutants include carbon monoxide, dioxides such as nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide – common by-products of burning fossil fuels – and ozone, caused by a reaction between gases and sunlight.
What is more, it estimates that air pollution is responsible for 7 million deaths annually around the world, and countless lost years of good health.