THE IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON OUR HEALTH

Air pollution is a mixture of gases and particles that enters the body mainly through the respiratory tract but affects many organ systems. This narrative review summarizes the sources and main pollutants of ambient air, the mechanisms by which they damage tissue, and the health outcomes most consistently linked to exposure. Fifteen sources were selected, including World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, the State of Global Air 2025 report, The Lancet Commission on pollution and health, cohort studies, clinical reviews, and a World Bank assessment of air quality in Tashkent. Current estimates attribute about 7.9 million deaths in 2023 to air pollution, most of them from noncommunicable diseases such as ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. Evidence also links exposure to impaired lung growth in children and to asthma, and emerging evidence links it to dementia.