An excellent air purifier is a necessity for anyone who wants to live a long life. Pneumonia and respiratory illnesses are one of the top killers of the elderly. You should have one in every room you use frequently.
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More in general the air quality in East/Southeast Asia can really be an issue. Personally I see many benefits to living there, but I find I find the air pollution to be a major drawback. (With the exception of Japan).
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Hi RapAdmin, I realize that I am responding to an old post, but I wonder if reducing infections in young children is penny wise but pound foolish.
I can see how air filtration may be ideal in public places, like transportation, hospitals, elder care facilities, and private residences where elderly/immunocompromised may be present. However, I wonder if this could ultimately lead to underdeveloped immune systems when applied to our young people, with unintended consequences down the road?
Even “Safe” Air Can Silently Scar Your Heart – MRI Shows How
Canadian researchers found even “safe” levels of PM2.5 boosted myocardial fibrosis in both healthy volunteers and cardiomyopathy patients, especially women, smokers, and people with hypertension.
Air Pollution’s Hidden Cardiac Scars
Breathing polluted air could be doing more harm to your heart than you realize—even if you’re healthy. A new study using advanced cardiac MRI imaging has found that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to early signs of heart damage, specifically a condition known as myocardial fibrosis. This type of scarring in the heart muscle can develop silently and may set the stage for heart failure later in life.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death around the world, and poor air quality has long been linked to increased cardiovascular risk. But what exactly happens inside the heart when we breathe polluted air has been less clear—until now.
“We know that if you’re exposed to air pollution, you’re at higher risk of cardiac disease, including higher risk of having a heart attack,” said the study’s senior author Kate Hanneman, M.D., M.P.H., from the Department of Medical Imaging at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and University Health Network in Toronto. “We wanted to understand what drives this increased risk at the tissue level.”
https://scitechdaily.com/even-safe-air-can-silently-scar-your-heart-mri-shows-how/
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Very good article: Lewy body dementia promotion by air pollutants 2025
This study provides evidence linking PM2.5 exposure to LBD. The neurotoxic effects of PM2.5 appear to be mediated by αSyn, with exposure generating a pathogenic strain (PM-PFF) that shares key properties with αSyn strains in human LBD. In mice, this strain induced cognitive deficits and transcriptomic changes resembling those in LBD patients, distinct from those in PD without dementia. These findings identify an environmental mechanism contributing to LBD pathogenesis and underscores the role of αSyn. The PM2.5-induced strain represents a potential target for therapeutic intervention. Collectively, these results emphasize the importance of further research into air pollution’s role in neurodegenerative diseases and its implications for public health strategies.
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I was curious as to where in the world we are most exposed to this…
The image above gives a visual snapshot of global annual average PM₂.₅ levels, with notable hotspots in South Asia, parts of Africa, and the Middle East.
Regions with Highest PM₂.₅ Exposure
1. South Asia
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Highest exposure globally: Countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal top the list for annual PM₂.₅ exposure. India and Pakistan, in particular, consistently record extremely poor air quality. (stateofglobalair.org, IQAir)
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City-level extremes:
- Delhi: Often records levels up to ~92 µg/m³—more than 18× the WHO guideline.
- Dhaka: Around 80 µg/m³.
- Other polluted cities include Lahore, Baghdad, and Ouagadougou. (IQAir, Reuters, The Guardian)
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Severe smog events: Recent crises in North India and Pakistan featured PM₂.₅ spikes reaching nearly 950 µg/m³—almost 190× the WHO annual threshold. (Wikipedia)
2. Africa & Middle East
- Countries with high levels: Chad (approx. 92 µg/m³), Niger, Nigeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo rank among the dirtiest globally. (IQAir, stateofglobalair.org)
- Regional exposure: Northern and sub-Saharan Africa are also heavily impacted. (Earth.Org, The Lancet)
3. Local/global disparities
- Exposure inequalities remain significant. While some residents in high-income regions have cleaner air, citizens in densely polluted areas—particularly in South Asia and parts of Africa—bear disproportionately high exposure. (Nature, ScienceDirect)
4. Europe (not as extreme but notable)
- The Po Valley in Northern Italy—around Milan, Turin, and Bologna—stands out as one of the most polluted parts of Europe. Its residents experience elevated PM₂.₅-related mortality and reduced life expectancy. (Wikipedia)
Quick Summary
| Region | Highlights |
|---|---|
| South Asia | India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal — some of the worst annual exposures; extreme smog events (900 µg/m³). |
| Africa & Middle East | Chad, Nigeria, Egypt, DRC among highest national averages; large populations affected. |
| Po Valley, Europe | Elevated PM₂.₅ impacting health and mortality in northern Italy’s urban-industrial belt. |
| Global Inequality | Exposure heavily concentrated among low- and middle-income regions. |
Final Thoughts
- South Asia is the global epicenter of PM₂.₅ exposure, both in average levels and severe episodic events.
- Africa & Middle East also face consistently elevated exposure, though data gaps exist.
- Urban industrial zones, e.g., Italy’s Po Valley, reveal hotspots even in relatively cleaner countries.
- Exposure inequality is stark—air quality is closely tied to socioeconomic and geographic factors.
Let me know if you’d like to explore urban-level comparisons, health impact modeling, or PM₂.₅ composition across different regions!
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This map by country is fairly useless. Even in the same city you have differences from one neighborhood to another. You need to look at the IQAir map.
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You need an air quality monitor in your house - bedroom, office, living room, with a whole bunch of sensors including 2.5.
That gives you more relevant granularity, and can tell you how well your air filter units work.
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Don’t forget home exposure from fireplaces, gas stoves, grill (although the food is not fault free to your aorta): The Fireplace Delusion
Air quality monitors with good sensors: https://www.airgradient.com/
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I have a few air quality monitors as well but I think one is enough.
OK, I admit I’m insane, but what can I do. I have 2-3 monitors in each room, because I want to make sure they agree with each other and I’m not just relying on one monitor which may be waaay off. It’s about failsafe systems, tolerances and error correction🤪.
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Yes I did the same and then found out that… They agreed with each other and one for the whole house was enough 
Which ones do you have? I have IQAir and Amazon. Which purifiers do you use? I have the Philips 3200.
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AQItech, SAF Aranet 4, Bonoch, Qxpztk, for monitors, plus a couple more brands downstairs names of which I don’t remember. For air purifiers, it’s all Coway AP1512HH, I bought a bunch in 2018, when there were fires in the LA area, they were the best reviewed and I just stuck with them. But yes, mostly the monitors are very close in numbers, so that’s a relief.
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Just here to say that you and @Steve_Combi convinced me to use them all the time and not just when there is wildfire smoke in the area. I bought that same Coway on Prime Day a few of you recommended.
I thought I would have zero tolerance for the noise (and seeing it), but nope, on low, I barely notice it, and that good ol’ Coway is so compact it is hidden by my end table and I rarely even see it. So, I’m really only chiming in to gives a huge thumbs up to that Coway for cost/looks… highly recommend.
I have a huge Levoit hidden behind something in the bedroom. I’d swap their locations if we had some smoke in the area.
We have particularly good air quality in my town, so all this is probably for nothing, but I do feel better for having it. The only time it has kicked on higher is when I’m using a little diatomaceous earth (for non toxic bug control).
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After Parkinson’s disease dementia now we have AD… Ambient Air Pollution and the Severity of Alzheimer Disease Neuropathology 2025
Higher PM2.5 exposure may exacerbate Alzheimer disease neuropathologic change and cognitive dysfunction in the setting of dementia; population-based autopsy studies are further needed to generalize these findings.
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OK, I have no doubt that that there are all these effects of air pollution (and water etc.) on health on a population level. But this can easily be misunderstood. Air pollution is not a new phenomenon. There have been extremely polluted environments since before the industrial revolution but especially so after. We have extreme examples with mine workers, black lung disease and so forth. But car exhaust pollution (including leaded gasoline) has been around for decades in major cities around the world, London, Tokyo, NY, LA etc. Has there really been an epidemic of AD, PD and all these effects from 50’s onward? We’ve had the famous smog deaths in London, but what about long term effects? It’s only been relatively recently that we’ve removed lead from gasoline.
Meanwhile, epic levels of air pollution in places like China, India, Indonesia and parts of Europe back in the day - some persist to this day, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and cities in China still suffer from quite a bit of air pollution. So my question is: WHERE ARE THE BODIES?
Where are there legions of PD, AD and so on? If I look at the map of the “PD belt” (you can google for it), it doesn’t map to the obvious air pollution cities. Are there epic levels of AD per 1000 population in places where air pollution has been bad for decades, like Los Angeles CA? I don’t think so.
Again, I’m not doubting the data, or the impact of air pollution. Just that it’s only one factor of many (in rates of PD, AD, cancer, CVD, and so on), and - dare I say it - not an especially important one (compared to others), if one goes by the numbers. YMMV.
The same is true for many other things, like plastic pollution. I have zero doubt that microplastic particles get into the human body and are a definite negative. The problem is we don’t know the relative size of the problem compared to other pollutants and impact on health.
It’s good to be aware of the dangers of air pollution and the like, but ultimately we should not lose sight of relative importance. Effort and attention should be apportioned according to the importance of any given factor.
In this context one can ask - we know air pollution is bad for health in the respect of X, Y, Z, but how bad for each and how bad the pollution to get a given outcome. How exercised and paranoid should we get about air pollution (while perhaps neglecting more important factors). One crude way of asking for that is: where are the bodies? YMMV.
There are so many issues and health hazards in these areas that I have to believe it would be very hard to parse out the different cause/effect relationships with a given person’s mortality. Poverty, noise, toxins, stress, extreme heat, getting hit by an auto-rickshaw at high speeds… the list goes on.
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OK, but China has statistics. Are the rates of PD and AD higher in Beijing than some smaller cities with better AQI? Or for that matter Los Angeles, CA famous for terrible air quality for literally decades.
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Of all places and times in history, Parkinson’s disease was first described and discovered in 1817 in London when the fog started with industrialization.
Air pollution improved in the West over the past decades and AD age-adjusted prevalence is decreasing as well.
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