The mortality impacts of fine particles in France.

Abstract Introduction Worldwide, air pollution has become a main environmental cause of premature mortality. This burden is largely due to fine particles. Recent cohort studies have confirmed the health risks associated with chronic exposure to PM 2.5 for European and French populations. We assessed the mortality impact of PM 2.5 in continental France using these new results. Methods Based on a meta-analysis of French and European cohorts, we computed a shrunken estimate of PM 2.5 –mortality relationship for the French population (RR 1.15 [1.05:1.25] for a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 ). This RR was applied to PM 2.5 annual concentrations estimated at a fine spatial scale, using a classical health impacts assessment method. The health benefits associated with alternative scenarios of improving air quality were computed for 36,219 French municipalities for 2007–2008. Results 9% of the total mortality in continental France is attributable to anthropogenic PM 2.5 . This represents > 48,000 deaths per year, and 950,000 years of life lost per year, more than half occurring in urban areas larger than 100,000 inhabitants. If none of the municipalities exceeded the World Health Organization guideline value for PM 2.5 (10 μg/m 3 ), the total mortality could be decreased by 3%, corresponding to 400,000 years of life saved per year. Conclusion Results were consistent with previous estimates of the long-term mortality impacts of fine particles in France. These findings show that further actions to improve air quality in France would substantially improve health.