Evaluation of the effects of reducing air pollution on human health

Background. The relationship between the long-term and short-term effects of atmospheric pollution has been assessed through many studies and shown to be linear, with no evidence for either a threshold effect or a short-term forward shift in mortality (harvesting). Aim. The evaluation of the effects of a reduction in air pollution on health. Discussion. In the city of Milan, 199 deaths are annually attributed to short-term and 1,178 to long-term air pollution effects, considering an annual average of 20 mu g/m(3) of particulate with a diameter less than 10 upsilon m (PM10). If the mean annual particulate matter concentrations in the city were reduced by just 10%, an immediate reduction of 31 deaths per year due to natural causes would be observed and after 3 or 4 years this reduction would be of 210 deaths per year for natural causes, 27 of which due to lung cancer, as a result of the reduced incidence. Conclusions. Even a small reduction in particulate atmospheric air pollution would be an important means of improving population health, as indicated by a non-negligible reduction in mortality in general and in lung cancer mortality in particular. Eur. J. Oncol., 16 (1), 9-13, 2011