Recent studies have shown that particulate air pollution is a risk factor for hospitalization for heart and lung disease; however, little is known about what subpopulations are most sensitive to this pollutant. We analyzed Medicare hospital admissions for heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD) and pneumonia in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, between 1985 and 1994. We exam...

The association between total daily mortality and air pollution was investigated for a 1-year period (January 1995 to December 1995) in Inchon, Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative importance of particulate and gaseous air pollution as predictors of daily mortality. Concentration of total suspended particulates (TSP), inhalable particles (PM10), and gaseous pollutants, ...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the association of air pollution with the onset of atrial fibrillation (AF). BACKGROUND Air pollution in general and more specifically particulate matter has been associated with cardiovascular events. Although ventricular arrhythmias are traditionally thought to convey the increased cardiovascular risk, AF may also contribute. METHODS Patients with ...

Well-documented air pollution episodes throughout recent history have led to deaths among individuals with cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Although the components of air pollution that cause the adverse health effects in these individuals are unknown, a small proportion by mass but a large proportion by number of the ambient air particles are ultrafine, i.e., less than 100 nm in diamete...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of reductions in air pollution from biomass smoke on daily mortality. DESIGN Age stratified time series analysis of daily mortality with Poisson regression models adjusted for the effects of temperature, humidity, day of week, respiratory epidemics, and secular mortality trends, applied to an intervention and control community. SETTING Central Launceston, Aust...

BACKGROUND Air pollution is a common alibi used by adolescents taking up smoking and by smokers uncertain about quitting. However, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) causes fine particulate matter (PM) indoor pollution exceeding outdoor limits, while new engines and fuels have reduced particulate emissions by cars. Data comparing PM emission from ETS and a recently released diesel car are presen...

I used generalized additive models to analyze the time-series of daily total nonaccidental and cause-specific (cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) deaths over the period 1987-1995 in three major U.S. metropolitan areas: Cook County, Los Angeles County, and Maricopa County. In all three counties I had monitoring information on particulate matter [less than...

This article briefly summarizes the epidemiology of the health effects of fine particulate air pollution, provides an early, somewhat speculative, discussion of the contribution of epidemiology to evaluating biologic mechanisms, and evaluates who's at risk or is susceptible to adverse health effects. Based on preliminary epidemiologic evidence, it is speculated that a systemic response to fine ...