Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution.
BACKGROUND
Associations have been found between day-to-day particulate air pollution and increased risk of various adverse health outcomes, including cardiopulmonary mortality. However, studies of health effects of long-term particulate air pollution have been less conclusive.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution and all-cause, lung cancer, and cardiopulmonary mortality.


METHODS
Vital status and cause of death data were collected by the American Cancer Society as part of the Cancer Prevention II study, an ongoing prospective mortality study, which enrolled approximately 1.2 million adults in 1982. Participants completed a questionnaire detailing individual risk factor data (age, sex, race, weight, height, smoking history, education, marital status, diet, alcohol consumption, and occupational exposures). The risk factor data for approximately 500 000 adults were linked with air pollution data for metropolitan areas throughout the United States and combined with vital status and cause of death data through December 31, 1998.


METHODS
All-cause, lung cancer, and cardiopulmonary mortality.


RESULTS
Fine particulate and sulfur oxide--related pollution were associated with all-cause, lung cancer, and cardiopulmonary mortality. Each 10-microg/m(3) elevation in fine particulate air pollution was associated with approximately a 4%, 6%, and 8% increased risk of all-cause, cardiopulmonary, and lung cancer mortality, respectively. Measures of coarse particle fraction and total suspended particles were not consistently associated with mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term exposure to combustion-related fine particulate air pollution is an important environmental risk factor for cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality.
Pope
C Arden
CA
Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, 142 FOB, Provo, UT 84602, USA. cap3@email.byu.edu
Burnett
Richard T
RT
Thun
Michael J
MJ
Calle
Eugenia E
EE
Krewski
Daniel
D
Ito
Kazuhiko
K
Thurston
George D
GD
D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants; D000397:Air Pollution; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D010316:Particle Size; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011660:Pulmonary Heart Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
D000393:Air Pollutants