Re: Deaths from fossil fuel burning air pollution

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2000, ruth_weiner wrote:
> 
> This type of conversion factor is now being applied to inhaled air
> pollutants (and this is in fact an application of the LNT theory), which is
> quite a stretch, and which I myself do not agree with.
> 
> An air pollutant is defined in a number of laws and regulations as a
> substance other than nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone,
> and argon, or a significant quantities of a  substance like CO and some
> terpenes that may in very small quantities be constituents of clean air.
> Particulate matter is a pollutant whether it comes from a stack, is crustal
> dust, or comes from a volcanoic eruption.

	--Here I define air pollution as things emitted from fossil fuel
burning, with very fine particulate (<1.5 miicron) serving as a surrogate.
How do you explain the fact that there is a statistically robust tendency
for areas with high air pollution to have higher mortality rates than
areas with low air pollution, after considering other factors that may be
relevant? No linear-no threshold assumption is involved; these are
straightforward data. Also, how do you explain the fact that in a given
city, mortality rates are higher when pollution is higher? Dozens of
studies have corroborated these findings.
	

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