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Air Pollution and Human Health: Perspectives for the ‘90s and Beyond
Author(s) -
Lipfert Frederick W.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1997.tb00853.x
Subject(s) - public health , environmental health , epidemiology , air pollution , air quality index , human health , environmental planning , political science , geography , medicine , meteorology , pathology , chemistry , organic chemistry
This paper considers the health effects of air pollution from three perspectives: historical, statistical, and public policy, and also as depicted by the recent epidemiology, primarily mortality studies. The historical perspectives establish the reality of population‐based health effects, and they provide data with which to evaluate more recent evidence. Statistical perspectives imply that, while there is strong evidence that associations between air quality and health persist, many details of these relationships remain obscure, especially as to the existence of concentration thresholds that might define safe exposure levels. Additional major questions include the effects of uncertainties in actual pollution exposures, the degree of prematurity of “excess” deaths, and whether the development of new cases of chronic disease is associated with air pollution. Public policy issues center around interpreting the new epidemiological studies in the light of these uncertainties and the analysis and management of the concomitant health risks.