One in Ten Asthma Cases Linked to Harmful Urban Environments: Study

New Delhi:  A large study has revealed that the combination of air pollution, dense urban development, and limited access to green spaces significantly increases the risk of asthma in both children and adults. Published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, the study concludes that improving urban environmental conditions could potentially prevent approximately one in ten asthma cases.

The research, led by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden as part of a major EU collaboration, analyzed data from nearly 350,000 individuals across 14 population cohorts in seven European countries. By linking participants’ residential addresses to environmental data, the researchers assessed multiple urban exposures, including levels of air pollution, outdoor temperature, population density, and the availability of green and blue spaces using satellite imagery.

What sets this study apart is its comprehensive approach to environmental risk. Over the course of the study, approximately 7,500 individuals developed asthma. The researchers found that 11.6% of these cases could be attributed to the combined effect of harmful environmental conditions, underscoring the significant role of urban design in public health outcomes.

The findings highlight the importance of integrating health considerations into city planning.

"Previous studies have typically calculated the risk of one environmental factor at a time. We have combined several environmental factors and described how they together affect the risk of developing asthma. This provides a better picture of environmental risks, as life in a city usually involves exposure to several environmental risk factors at the same time," says first author Zhebin Yu, researcher and assistant professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.

Reference: hebin Yu, Sara Kress, Natalia Blay, Petr Gregor, Hanna-Maria Kukk, Miriam Leskien, Renata Majewska, Max J. Oosterwegel, Daniel Szabó, Margreet ten Have, Jana Klánová, Ondřej Mikeš, Anna Bergström, Alonso Bussalleu, Rafael de Cid, Andrea Dalecka, Payam Dadvand, Saskia van Dorsselaer, Krista Fischer, Kees de Hoogh, Gerard H. Koppelman, Jaanika Kronberg, Andres Metspalu, Lili Milani, Tõnu Esko, Mait Metspalu, Jeroen Lakerveld, Petter Ljungman, Simon Kebede Merid, Pawel Macek, Marta Manczuk, Anne-Sophie Merritt, Agnieszka Pac, Priit Palta, Göran Pershagen, Annette Peters, Hynek Pikhart, Apolline Saucy, Tamara Schikowski, Youchen Shen, Marie Standl, Cathryn Tonne, Roel Vermeulen, Jelle Vlaanderen, Judith M. Vonk, Kathrin Wolf, Carl Henrik Ek, Olena Gruzieva, Ulrike Gehring, Erik Melén. External exposome and incident asthma across the life course in 14 European cohorts: a prospective analysis within the EXPANSE project. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 2025; 101314 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2025.101314