Exploration of PM mass, source, and component-related factors that might explain heterogeneity in daily PM-mortality associations across the United States.

Multi-city epidemiologic studies examining short-term (daily) differences in fine particulate matter (PM) provide evidence of substantial spatial heterogeneity in city-specific mortality risk estimates across the United States. Because PM is a mixture of particles, both directly emitted from sources or formed through atmospheric reactions, some of this heterogeneity may be due to regional variations in PM toxicity. Using inverse variance weighted linear regression, we examined change in percent change in mortality in association with 24 "exposure" determinants representing three basic groupings based on potential explanations for differences in PM toxicity - size, source, and composition.

Trends in Fire Danger and Population Exposure along the Wildland-Urban Interface.

The increased risk of wildfires and associated smoke exposure in the United States is a growing public health problem, particularly along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). Using the measure of fire danger, the Energy Release Component, we define fire danger as the onset and duration of fire season, in the continental US, between 1979 and 2016. We then combine the measure of fire danger with census data to quantify changes in population fire exposure across the WUI.

Annual PM and cardiovascular mortality rate data: Trends modified by county socioeconomic status in 2,132 US counties.

This article contains data on county-level socioeconomic status for 2132 US counties and each county's average annual cardiovascular mortality rate (CMR) and fine particulate matter (PM) concentration for 21 years (1990-2010). County CMR, PM, and socioeconomic data were obtained from the US National Center for Health Statistics, US Environmental Protection Agency's Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system, and the US Census, respectively. Annual socioeconomic indices were created using seven county-level measures from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 US Census using factor analysis.

Impact of Reductions in Emissions from Major Source Sectors on Fine Particulate Matter-Related Cardiovascular Mortality.

Background: Reductions in ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter () have contributed to reductions in cardiovascular (CV) mortality.

Objectives: We examined changes in CV mortality attributed to reductions in emissions from mobile, point, areal, and nonroad sources through changes in concentrations of and its major components [nitrates, sulfates, elemental carbon (EC), and organic carbon (OC)] in 2,132 U.S.

The contribution of improved air quality to reduced cardiovascular mortality: Declines in socioeconomic differences over time.

Major improvements in air quality since 1990, observed through reductions in fine particulate matter (PM), have been associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality rates (CMR). However, it is not well understood whether the health benefit attributed to PM reductions has been similar across strata of socioeconomic deprivation (SED). Using mixed effect regression models, we estimated the PM-related change in the CMR across 2,132 US counties in five SED strata between 1990 and 2010.