Particulate Air Pollution, Disease, and Death in the Cities and Towns of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

ABSTRACT: Background: PM_2.5 air pollution is a leading cause of disease and death. US air pollutant emissions have declined by 75% since passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, but the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) continues to have elevated pollution levels and, in 2025, had the US's 12^th highest PM_2.5 concentration. Steel mills and coke ovens are major point sources. Objective: To quantify deaths, adverse birth outcomes, and children's IQ loss in the Pittsburgh MSA attributable to PM_2.5 air pollution. Methods: Mean annual PM_2.5 air pollution concentrations were obtained for each census tract in the Pittsburgh MSA from NASA's satellite-based Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center map layers and linked wit

SUBMITTER: Whitman EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12862455 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature