Short-term effects of ambient particles on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality.

Background: Particulate air pollution is associated with increased mortality. There is a need for European results from multicountry databases concerning cause-specific mortality to obtain more accurate effect estimates.

Methods: We report the estimated effects of ambient particle concentrations (black smoke and particulate matter less than 10 mum [PM10]) on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, from 29 European cities, within the Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach (APHEA2) project.