You are here:
STATISTICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF AIR POLLUTION INVOLVING AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER
Citation:
Cox, L H. STATISTICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF AIR POLLUTION INVOLVING AIRBORNE PARTICULATE MATTER. ENVIRONMETRICS 11(6):611-626, (2000).
Description:
Epidemiological research in the early 1990s focusing on health effects of airborne particulate matter pointed to a statistical association between increases in concentration of particulate in ambient air and increases in daily nonaccidental mortality, particularly among the elderly. These results appear consistent across a range of U.S. cities. This and other scientific and policy information formed the basis on which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) promulgated revised, stricter air quality standards for particulate matter in 1997. Prior to implementing revised particulate matter standards, USEPA will complete (in 2002) a second National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) review based on new science and policy information. Much of the science information involves use of statistics or is based on statistical models. Research priorities associated with setting regulatory standards for particulate matter were provided by the Committee on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter of the National Research Council. One of the Committee's ten research topics dealt with statistical issues. This paper reports conclusions and recommendations from a 1998 interdisciplinary Workshop on Particulate Methodology organized by the National Research Center on Statistics and the Environment and the the USEPA. The purpose of the Workshop as to set a statistical research agenda relevant to setting air quality standards for ambient particulate matter pollution, timed to coincide with the current NAAQS review.