To assess the possible relationship between air pollution and death among older adults, researchers assessed 60 million Medicare claims and estimated air pollution levels per kilometer for the entire U.S.
Analysis revealed increases of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of particulate matter and increases of 10 parts per billion in ozone were associated with a 7.3 percent increase in mortality risk. Researchers also found air pollution below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency was still associated with an increased risk of death.
“This is a study of unprecedented statistical power because of the massive size of the study population,” said Francesca Dominici, PhD, the principal investigator of the study and professor of biostatistics at Harvard Chan School of Medicine in Boston. “These findings suggest that lowering the NAAQS for fine particulate matter will produce important public health benefits.”
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