Living in an air polluted city places a person at greater risk of early death than living in the radioactive zone around according to a study conducted by scientists at the “Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Great Britain”.

It’s been found that increased cancer rates among this group led to a 1 percent higher risk of premature death. By contrast, residents of air polluted Delhi are 2.8 percent more likely to die from pollution-related heart and lung disease than residents of villages, the least polluted places. People who lived with a smoker had a 1.7 percent increase in death risk.

It’s been also found that survivors of the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, had an increased death risk But lower than that caused by severe obesity or active smoking.

A new study has discovered a significant correlation between the air pollution around a woman’s home and her risk of heart disease. While only women were studied, researchers believe that air pollution has the same effects on men. However, women are at greater risk for heart disease in general, because their arteries are narrower and thus more easily blocked.

Researchers in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study studied more than 65,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79 in 36 different U.S. cities for nine years. At the beginning of the study, none of the women had heart disease. At the end of the study, researchers compared the frequency of heart disease among participants in the different cities with information on local air quality. They found a substantial correlation between the density of particulate matter in the air and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.

These soot particles … are typically created by fossil-fuel combustion in vehicles and power plants, said lead researcher of the University of Washington. The tiny particles — and the air pollutant gases that travel along with them — cause harmful effects once they are breathed in.

The average particulate levels varied by city, from four to nearly 20 micrograms per cubic meter of air. A 10 microgram increase in particulate concentration corresponded to a 76 percent greater chance of a woman dying from cardiovascular causes, including heart attacks and strokes.

This adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution should be taken seriously as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, said Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director for the British Heart Foundation.

The study’s authors also urged stricter standards on particulate emissions.