Long-term ozone exposure linked to higher risk of death, finds nationwide study

BERKELEY — Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, is associated with an increased risk of death from respiratory ailments, according to a new nationwide study led by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. The study, to be published in the March 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed the risk of death for both ozone and fine particulate matter, two of the most prevalent components of air pollution. The study followed nearly 450,000 people for two decades and covered 96 metropolitan regions in the United States. A new study finds that long-term exposure to ozone is linked to a higher risk of death from respiratory causes. This map shows average ozone concentrations for the years 1977-2000 in the 96 metropolitan regions included in the study. Click map to view full-size version . (Courtesy of Bernie Beckerman/UC Berkeley) The researchers found that people living in areas with the highest concentrations of ozone, such as the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California's Central Valley, had a 25 to 30 percent greater annual risk of dying from respiratory diseases compared with people from regions with the lowest levels of the pollutant.