Air pollution may increase lung cancer riskDecember 03, 2003Chronic air pollution may increase the risk of lung cancer, suggests a Norwegian study of over 16,000 men in Thorax. Researchers monitored the health of 16, 209 men from 1972 until 1998. The men, all of whom lived in Oslo, were taking part in long term research on risk factors for heart disease and stroke. They were aged between 40 and 49 at the start of the study. The Norwegian Institute for Air Research estimated the average levels of residential air pollution they would have been exposed to for every year between 1974 and1995. And their names were checked against national data on reported deaths and cases of cancer. During the monitoring period, 418 men developed lung cancer. When influential factors, such as age, smoking habit, education and income, were taken into account, exposure to higher levels of ambient air pollution was associated with a higher risk of developing the disease. The risk of developing lung cancer was 8% higher for men living in locations where ambient levels of nitrogen oxide increased by 10 '¬g/m3 between 1974 and 1978. It was 1% higher for a corresponding increase in sulphur dioxide. Traffic was the main source of nitrogen oxide levels, while heating was the main source of sulphur dioxide levels. The authors suggest that exposure to nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide are not likely to cause cancer by themselves, but that they could be valid indicators of the presence of other cancer causing agents in the air. They point out that smoking poses a significantly greater threat, but comment that there is a small difference in the reported rates of lung cancer between urban and rural areas, which is not fully explained by smoking. British Medical Journal (BMJ) |
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