Citation:

Corrigan, A., M. Becker, L. Neas, AND A. Rappold. Association of trends in US ambient air quality and cardiovascular mortality for 2000-2010. 15th Annual CMAS Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, October 24 - 26, 2016.

Impact/Purpose:

The purpose of this abstract is to provide a training opportunity for an ORISE fellow, Annie Corrigan, and to allow her to present recent work on the relationship between the long term change in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and cause-specific mortality rates. The impact of this conference abstract will be slight.

Description:

With the implementation of the Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards, air quality in the United States has notably improved. Here we investigate whether declining levels of air pollutants are associated with improvements in human health. We examine the relationship between the long term change in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and cause-specific mortality rates, adjusted for age, across the United States. Data was compiled from the EPA’s Air Quality System, National Center for Health Statistics, and Census Bureau for PM2.5, mortality, and covariate information, respectively, for 613 U.S. counties with air quality monitoring from 2000 to 2010. For all analyses, linear mixed-effects models were employed with fixed effects for changes in income, race, Hispanic status, education, and prevalence of cigarette smoking. Our preliminary findings indicate a strong association between improvements in air quality and improvements in health, with the strongest associations related to cardiovascular deaths. With random slopes and intercepts, we also examine the heterogeneity of these effects with respect to geographic regions and the impact of regulatory action. This abstract of a proposed presentation does not necessarily reflect the policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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