Years of breathing traffic pollution increases death rates, study finds

Even with electrification, traffic will still produce particle pollution from the wear of tyres, roads, and to a lesser extent brakes. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

Years of breathing traffic pollution increases death rates in neighbourhoods, towns and cities, according to an international evidence review.

The information came from many sources including a study on more than 100,000 female teachers and school administrators in California, a 40-year analysis of nearly 400,000 people in the UK census, and more than 800,000 English general practitioner records, along with analysis of the whole populations of Rome and Barcelona and studies on elderly people in Denmark and Japan.