Spatial Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in California

• Published in: American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine Vol. 188; no. 5; pp. 593 - 599
• Main Authors: Jerrett, Michael, Burnett, Richard T., Beckerman, Bernardo S., Turner, Michelle C., Krewski, Daniel, Thurston, George, Martin, Randall V., van Donkelaar, Aaron, Hughes, Edward, Shi, Yuanli, Gapstur, Susan M., Thun, Michael J., Pope, C. Arden
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY American Thoracic Society 01.09.2013
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air pollution; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; Cancer; Environment. Living conditions; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Intensive care medicine; Land use; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mortality; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen Dioxide - adverse effects; Outdoor air quality; Ozone - adverse effects; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; Pneumology; Pollutants; Postal codes; Proportional Hazards Models; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Survival Analysis; California; United States; North America; America; Los Angeles California; United States > US; Intensive care; Prognosis; Respiratory disease; Mortality; Spatial analysis; survival analyses; Epidemiology; Survival; GIS; Health and environment; Geographic information system; spatial analyses; Air pollution; Resuscitation; Public health
• ISSN: 1073-449X; 1535-4970; 1535-4970
• DOI: 10.1164/rccm.201303-0609OC

Although substantial scientific evidence suggests that chronic exposure to ambient air pollution contributes to premature mortality, uncertainties exist in the size and consistency of this association. Uncertainty may arise from inaccurate exposure assessment. To assess the associations of three types of air pollutants (fine particulate matter, ozone [O3], and nitrogen dioxide [NO2]) with the risk of mortality in a large cohort of California adults using individualized exposure assessments. For fine particulate matter and NO2, we used land use regression models to derive predicted individualized exposure at the home address. For O3, we estimated exposure with an inverse distance weighting interpolation. Standard and multilevel Cox survival models were used to assess the association between air pollution and mortality. Data for 73,711 subjects who resided in California were abstracted from the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention II Study cohort, with baseline ascertainment of individual characteristics in 1982 and follow-up of vital status through to 2000. Exposure data were derived from government monitors. Exposure to fine particulate matter, O3, and NO2 was positively associated with ischemic heart disease mortality. NO2 (a marker for traffic pollution) and fine particulate matter were also associated with mortality from all causes combined. Only NO2 had significant positive association with lung cancer mortality. Using the first individualized exposure assignments in this important cohort, we found positive associations of fine particulate matter, O3, and NO2 with mortality. The positive associations of NO2 suggest that traffic pollution relates to premature death.