This chapter discusses recent studies, which associate acute exposure to air pollution with short-term changes in daily deaths and hospital attendance. It also considers whether and how far air pollution from vehicles is responsible for the increase in asthma reported in the Western world. The hospital studies are presented and show that there is a coherent and consistent pattern of associations between airborne particles and both mortality and hospital admissions from respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Many other studies report the association of respiratory symptoms and illness with airborne particle exposure. Ground ozone has been consistently found to aggravate respiratory disease, but its association with mortality is weak. There is as yet relatively little evidence to suggest that air pollution is a risk factor in developing asthma, although a small but consistent research literature suggests that it could be a risk factor in developing bronchitis. In the USA, asthma hospitalisation rates rose while levels of traffic-related air pollution fell.
Abstract