Air Pollution and Fatal Lung Disease in Three Utah Counties

Abstract

A unique situation found in two Utah counties has made it possible to estimate the fraction of respiratory cancer and nonmalignant respiratory disease (NMRD) deaths, which are attributable to community air pollution (CAP) in one county. The two counties were very similar in many ways, including low smoking rates, until a steel mill constructed during WW II caused substantial CAP in one of them. Subsequent differences in mortality rates from both respiratory cancer and NMRD are striking. A third county, similar to many counties outside Utah, was included in the analysis for comparison. In one county, 30-40% of the respiratory cancer and NMRD deaths were attributable to CAP. In this county, NMRD deaths (but not respiratory cancer deaths) were slightly more frequent than in Salt Lake County where smoking rates were twice as high.

Health effects of particulate air pollution: time for reassessment?

“…After adjusting for differences in socioeconomic characteristics, the relative risk of respiratory post-neonatal respiratory mortality was approximately 3.00 for most polluted areas versus least polluted areas. Archer, 1990 (91) Three counties in Utah Spatial and longitudinal differences in death rates in three counties with low smoking rates and the introduction of a major pollution source were evaluated. It between young, nonsmoking children; and 3) cigarette smoking does not change dayto-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month in positive correlation with air pollution.…”

Residence location as a measure of environmental exposure: a review of air pollution epidemiology studies

“…Within``polluted'' areas, exposure subgroups were formed using proximity measures in six studies. Air pollution levels were quantified using monitoring data in three studies ( Brown et al, 1984;Andre Ân et al, 1988;Archer, 1990) and by dispersion modeling in a fourth (Dales et al, 1989 ).…”

“…There are many possible reasons for insignificance (Roht et al, 1985;Schulman et al, 1993;Acquavella et al, 1994;Nurminen, 1995 ). As examples, the studies suggested the possibility of sampling and measurement bias ( Willis et al, 1993;Garcõ Âa -Rodrõ Âguez et al, 1996;Morris and Knorr, 1996 ), confounding ( Heary et al, 1980;Archer, 1990;Baghurst et al, 1992;Kilburn and Warshaw, 1995;Pope et al, 1995 ) , insufficient sample size and statistical power (Greaves et al, 1981;Matanoski et al, 1981;Brown et al, 1984;Rosenman et al, 1989;Aschengrau et al, 1996 ) , lack of baseline data ( Willis et al, 1993 ) , and residence mobility Pekkanen et al, 1995 ) . In addition, invalid or inaccurate exposure estimates are likely to weaken associations between exposures and effects, whereas inadvertent association between erroneous exposure estimates and other cofactors might yield false associations.…”

“…Two studies noted changes in the emission source Archer, 1990 ) . Short -term measurements were sometimes used to estimate long -term exposures, especially in the metal studies where grab samples of dust, soil or water were collected to represent long -term pollutant accumulation.…”

Lung cancer and air pollution.

“…Stevens and Moolgavkar (36) deduced that there had been declines in lung cancer incidence among nonsmoking males in England and Wales coincident with substantial declines in levels of particulate and sulfur dioxide pollution that resulted from the implementation of nationwide air pollution control measures. * In another study, Archer (34) analyzed respiratory cancer mortality in two Utah counties with very low smoking rates. These two counties were similar in many respects, with low and nearly equal respiratory cancer mortality rates until a steel mill constructed during World War II caused substantial increases in air pollution in one of them.…”