Higher Rates Of Fine Particulate Air Pollution Increases Mortality Risk

Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have found higher death rates among people over 65 in zip codes with more fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) than in those with lower levels of PM2.5. This is one of the first studies to examine the effect of soot particles in the air of the entire population of a region, including rural areas. The findings appear online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

"Most of the country is either meeting the EPA standards now, or is expected to meet them in a few years as new power plant controls kick in," said senior author Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology, in a news release. "This study shows that it is not enough. We need to go after coal plants that still aren't using scrubbers to clean their emissions, as well as other sources of particles like traffic and wood smoke."

While previous studies have linked both short- and long-term exposure to (PM2.5) and increased mortality rates via higher blood pressure and heart disease, the use of particle levels and temperatures in every zip code in New England helped researchers look at the effects of (PM2.5) at the effects of short-term exposure and annual average exposures simultaneously. They examined health data from those covered via Medicare in England, including a whole of 2.4 million people between 2003 and 2008, and followed them each year until they died.

Findings revealed that even after restricting zip codes and times with the annual exposure below EPA standards, both short- and long-term (PM2.5) exposure was significantly linked to increased death rates.

"Particulate air pollution is like lead pollution, there is no evidence of a safe threshold even at levels far below current standards, including in the rural areas we investigated," concluded Schwartz. "We need to focus on strategies that lower exposure everywhere and all the time, and not just in locations or on days with high particulate levels."

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