Abstract
Objective: Determine the risk of premature mortality due to the urban ambient air pollution mix in Canada.
Methods: The number of daily deaths for non-accidental causes were obtained in 11 cities from 1980 to 1991 and linked to concentrations of ambient gaseous air pollutants using relative risk regression models for longitudinal count data.
Results: Nitrogen dioxide had the largest effect on mortality with a 4.1% increased risk (p<0.01), followed by ozone at 1.8% (p<0.01), sulphur dioxide at 1.4% (p<0.01), and carbon monoxide at 0.9% (p=0.04) in multiple pollutant regression models. A 4% reduction in premature mortality was attributed to achieving a sulphur content of gasoline of 30 ppm in five Canadian cities, a risk reduction 12 times greater than previously reported.
Conclusions: Ambient air pollution generated from the burning of fossil fuels is a risk factor for premature mortality in 11 Canadian cities.
Résumé
Objectif: Évaluer le risque de décès prématuré dû aux divers polluants atmosphériques dans les villes au Canada.
Méthodes: On a déterminé le nombre quotidien de décès non accidentels dans 11 villes entre 1980 et 1991 et établi un lien entre les concentrations de polluants gazeux dans l’atmosphère au moyen de modèles de régression du risque relatif pour des données longitudinales.
Résultats: Le dioxyde d’azote avait l’influence la plus marquée sur la mortalité, se traduisant par une majoration du risque de l’ordre de 4,1 % (p<0,01); venaient ensuite l’ozone, 1,8% (p<0,01), l’anhydride sulfureux, 1,4% (p<0,01) et le monoxyde de carbone, 0,9% (p=0,04), dans des modèles de régression portant sur plusieurs polluants. Dans cinq villes canadiennes, une réduction des décès prématurés de l’ordre de 0,4% a été attribuée par obtenu une teneur en soufre d’essence de 30 mg/L, l’importance du risque étant 12 fois plus élevée que ce qu’on avait signalé auparavant.
Conclusions: La pollution atmosphérique engendrée par la combustion des carburants fossiles est un facteur de risque de décès prématuré dans les villes canadiennes.
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