New research that may see people paying more attention to the quality of the air breathed in has recently been published via the ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’.

The research showed that long-term exposure to ground level ozone gases substantially raises the risk of dying from respiratory complications. The risk is more than 30% larger in the metro areas with the highest levels of ozone gases when compared to those locations where concentrations were lowest.

It followed 450,000 subjects in 96 metropolitan regions over an 18-year period. During this time, Riverside California had the highest daily average concentrations, whilst, at the other end of the scale, the lowest were recorded in San Francisco.

Most often, cities towards the north-east of America had lesser concentrations than states in the west like California – Los Angeles was shown to have a 43% greater risk, while New York came in at 25% and Washington D.C. at 27%.

A good way to lower the risk is to your outdoors jobs and chores during the morning, or in the late afternoon in order to be out of the way for the sunniest, hottest part of the day, particularly if you live in one of the warmer climates. Keeping your windows unopened when ozone levels are highest is also advised.

On the whole, keep yourself aware of your environment. Seriously consider limiting your exposure to something that experts are increasingly finding to be dangerous. This study isn’t conclusive on itself but it gives a pretty clear indication that danger surrounds us.

If you, or your family or friends, suffer from breathing problems, you should keep an eye on the levels of ozone gases in the area in which they or you live. Though it may seem drastic to relocate to somewhere else, it could literally result in prolonging their or your life by a few years.