Di, Q. Wang, Y. Zanobetti, A. Wang, Y. Koutrakis, P. Choriat, C. Dominici, F. Schwartz, J. (2017). Air Pollution and Mortality in the Medicare Population. New England Journal of Medicine.
A study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine by CRESSH Project 1 collaborators titled “Air Pollution and Mortality in the Medicare Population.” The nationwide cohort study included 61 million Medicare patients from 2000-2012. The study found that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter) increases the risk of premature mortality at concentrations lower than the current EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The inclusion of the entire Medicare cohort also allowed for extremely accurate subgroup analyses which showed the highest estimated risk of death from fine particulate matter exposure among male, black, and low-income persons. The study was highlighted in an article on the NPR website and was also featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, which included commentary from Project 1 investigator Francesca Dominici. Read the paper here.