Reassessment of the lethal London fog of 1952: Novel indicators of acute and chronic consequences of acute exposure to air pollution
Reassessment of the lethal London fog of 1952: Novel indicators of acute and chronic consequences of acute exposure to air pollution
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DOI：
10.2307/3434786
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发表时间：
2001-06-01
影响因子：
10.4
通讯作者：
Davis, DL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bell, ML;Davis, DL
本文开发并评估了 1952 年冬季伦敦致命烟雾后呼吸系统和其他疾病发病率和死亡率的新指标。对 1952 年 12 月至 1953 年 2 月的公共健康保险索赔、心脏病和呼吸系统疾病住院率、肺炎病例、死亡记录、流感报告、温度和空气污染物浓度进行了分析，并与前一年或前几年进行了比较。 1952年12月至1953年2月雾霾期间的死亡率比前一年高出50-300%。有关烟雾仅在 1952 年 12 月 5 日至 9 日大雾期间及其后立即增加健康风险以及流感流行完全解释 1953 年前 2 个月死亡率持续增加的说法均被驳回。我们估计，由于 1952 年伦敦烟雾的严重和持续影响，从 1952 年 12 月到 1953 年 2 月，大约有 12,000 人超额死亡。伦敦雾霾期间的污染水平比现行监管标准和指导方针高出 5 至 19 倍，接近一些快速发展地区目前的水平。许多地区的环境污染对公众健康构成严重威胁。
This article develops and assesses novel indicators of respiratory and other morbidity and mortality following London's lethal smog in the winter of 1952. Public health insurance claims, hospital admission rates for cardiac and respiratory disease, pneumonia cases, mortality records, influenza reports, temperature, and air pollutant concentrations are analyzed for December-February 1952-1953 and compared with those for the previous year or years. Mortality rates for the smog episode from December 1952 to February 1953 were 50-300% higher than the previous year. Claims that the smog only elevated health risks during and immediately following the peak fog 5-9 December 1952 and that an influenza epidemic accounted fully for persisting mortality increases in the first 2 months of 1953 are rejected. We estimate about 12,000 excess deaths occurred from December 1952 through February 1953 because of acute and persisting effects of the 1952 London smog. Pollution levels during the London smog were 5-19 times above current regulatory standards and guidelines and approximate current levels in some rapidly developing regions. Ambient pollution in many regions poses serious risks to public health.