Short Term Effects of Air Pollution on Health

The short-term effects of particulate and gaseous air pollutants presented here are based mainly on results reported from time series and panel studies since the year 2000. The largest amount of research has reported results on the adverse effects of particulate matter (PM), which include increase in cause-specific and total natural mortality, hospital respiratory and cardiac admissions, and exacerbation of preexisting respiratory diseases and symptoms. Sensitive subpopulations include the elderly and persons with chronic respiratory and cardiac diseases. Health impact assessment indicates that if PM10 concentration was reduced to 20 μg m−3 on all days, in Europe, it would lead to a decrease of 15 premature deaths per 100 000 inhabitants per year. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO) have also been associated with adverse short-term effects including increases in daily mortality. NO2 and O3 are found to affect mainly respiratory outcomes, whereas CO affects mainly the cardiac system. Recently, novel designs allow the reduction of exposure misclassification error for a more accurate assessment of individual exposure. Further research leading to a better understanding of the various aspects of PM and intercorrelations of the various pollutants is needed.