Air pollution

In 2018, 1.4% of the total disease burden among Indigenous Australians was due to air pollution.

These estimates reflect the amount of burden that could have been avoided if all Indigenous Australians were not exposed to particulate matter 2.5μg/m3 (PM2.5).

Air pollution was causally linked to 6 diseases—coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, lung cancer, type 2 diabetes and lower respiratory infections (see ABDS 2018 Risk factor estimates for Indigenous Australians data table S1).

How much burden was attributable to air pollution?

In 2018 among Indigenous Australians, air pollution was responsible for 12% of stroke total burden and coronary heart disease burden, 7% of COPD burden and type 2 diabetes burden, 6% of lower respiratory infections burden and 3% of lung cancer burden.

This interactive data visualisation shows the burden attributable to air pollution among Indigenous Australians by linked disease. The main section shows a horizontal bar graph which can be customised to report data according to year, sex and measure of attributable burden. Each bar represents the attributable burden of the disease linked to air pollution.

How did burden attributable to air pollution vary by age and sex?

The majority of the total burden due to air pollution among Indigenous Australians occurred in Indigenous Australians aged between 45–64. Among these age groups, the most burden due to air pollution was from coronary heart disease followed by COPD. For Indigenous Australians aged 25–44, most burden was also from coronary heart disease followed by stroke—while for those aged under 15, most burden was from lower respiratory infections.

Indigenous males experienced more burden due to air pollution compared with Indigenous females for most age groups.

This interactive data visualisation shows the amount of burden attributable to air pollution among Indigenous Australians by age group and linked disease. The main section shows a stacked bar graph which can be customised to report data according to year, sex, disease group and measure of attributable burden. Each bar represents the attributable burden within a particular age group. Each bar is also split into separate components with each colour representing a disease linked to air pollution.

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