No abstract

Air pollution emissions were not continually monitored in the Upper Silesian Industrial District (USID), southern Poland, and data is only available for the last 20 years. Long-lasting and severe tree ring reductions in pines growing 5–20 km north of the USID area recorded particularly high levels of air pollution emissions in the period 1950–1990. Especially high amounts of reductions and many missing rings were found in the period 1964–1981. At the same time, pines growing 60 km west of the USID do not record deep ring reductions; this proves that the phenomenon is of a regional nature. Increases in infant mortality and lung, bronchial, and tracheal cancer morbidity rates among males were also recorded in the USID during periods of high air pollution. Infant mortality rates increased several years after the tree ring reductions. Therefore, it may be possible to use tree ring reductions as an early indicator of the occurrence of adverse effects on human health.

No abstract

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution contributes to shortened life expectancies of UE citizens by an average of 8.6 months. The aim of our study was to see if there is a relationship between exposure of inhabitants of cities to air pollution and the length of their lives, excluding deaths caused by external causes. Average annual concentrations of air pollutants such as PM 10 , benzo(a)pyrene, cadmium and lead in PM 10 were based on data from the measuring stations, while the concentrations of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls were their own measurements. The average women's and men's life expectancies in 11 cities in the year 2015, after excluding accidents and suicides, were calculated on the basis of the registry of deaths. Inequalities in men's and women's life expectancies are significant between cities and there is a relationship between exposure to air pollutants and the length of men's and women's lives in each city, demonstrating a very strong correlation in the male population. An effective tool for identifying significant risk factors affecting human health seems to be the multiple regression model.

No abstract