Abstract
The relation between air pollution and mortality in London was examined for the winters of 1958-1972. The data exhibited a high degree of autocorrelation, requiring analyses using autoregressive models. There was a highly significant relation between mortality and either particulate matter or sulfur dioxide (after controlling for temperature and humidity), both overall and in each individual year. Graphic analysis revealed a nonlinear relation with no threshold, and a steeper exposure-response curve at lower air pollution levels. In models with both pollutants, particulate matter remained a significant predictor with about a 10% reduction in its estimated coefficients, while sulfur dioxide was insignificant, with a large drop in its estimated coefficient. The authors conclude that particulates are strongly associated with mortality rates in London, and the relation is likely causal.
Keywords
ParticulatesAir pollutionAutocorrelationSulfur dioxideEnvironmental sciencePollutionParticulate pollutionAir pollutantsTime seriesPollutantAtmospheric sciencesStatisticsMathematicsChemistryBiology
MeSH Terms
Air PollutionHumansHumidityLondonModelsStatisticalMortalityProbabilityRegression AnalysisSensitivity and SpecificitySmokeSulfur DioxideTemperature
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Air pollution and daily mortality: Associations with particulates and acid aerosols
The association between total daily mortality and air pollution was investigated for a 1-year period (September 1985 through August 1986) in St. Louis and in the counties in eas...
A statistical study of the macroepidemiology of air pollution and total mortality
A statistical analysis of spatial patterns of 1980 US urban total mortality (all causes) was performed, evaluating demographic, socioeconomic and air pollution factors as predic...
Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in Steubenville, Ohio
Particulate air pollution has been associated with daily mortality in London, England, both in the smog episodes of the 1950s and at the lower pollution levels of the late 1960s...
Particulate Air Pollution as a Predictor of Mortality in a Prospective Study of U.S. Adults
Time-series, cross-sectional, and prospective cohort studies have observed associations between mortality and particulate air pollution but have been limited by ecologic design ...
Air pollution
Abstract This chapter reviews studies of day-to-day changes in acute exposure to air pollutants, including studies of early episodes of extremely elevated air pollution, more re...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1990
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 131
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 185-194
- Citations
- 441
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
441
OpenAlex
11
Influential
295
CrossRef
Cite This
Joel Schwartz,
Allan H. Marcus
(1990).
MORTALITY AND AIR POLLUTION J LONDON: A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS.
American Journal of Epidemiology
, 131
(1)
, 185-194.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115473
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115473
- PMID
- 2403468