“…Inhalation of PM-10 at levels near the state's (50 pg/m3, 24-h average) and below the federal (1 50 pg/m3, 24-h average) ambient air quality standards are associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory illnesses (Martin, 1964;Greenburg et al, 1967;Samet et al, 1981;Knight et al, 1989), increased incidences o f asthma attacks (Whittemore & Korn, 1980;Schenker, 1993), increased asthma medication use (Pope et al, 1991 1, reduced pulmonary function (Pope et al, 1991;Stern et al, 1989;Pope & Kanner, 1993), and increased daily mortality (Schwartz, 1991(Schwartz, , 1993Schwartz & Dockery, 1992;Dockery et al, 1993). Exposure to respirable fine particles and sulfates is consistently and significantly associated with reported total annual mortality rates (Ozkaynak & Spengler, 1985;Ozkaynak & Thurston, 1987).…”