Since the beginning of HIA (Health Impact Assessment) development, environmental risk factors have been one of the targeted groups of health determinants—besides the social ones. In this commentary, we would like to discuss some methodological aspects and potential uses of the quantitative estimation of the health impact of outdoor air pollution.

Few studies have investigated the independent health effects of different size fractions of particulate matter (PM), in multiple locations, especially in Europe. The researchers estimated the short-term effects of PM with aerodynamic diameter less than 10μm (PM10), less than 2.5μm (PM2.5), and between 2.5 and 10μm (PM2.5-10) on all-cause, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in 10 European Mediterranean metropolitan areas within the MED-PARTICLES project.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been linked to cardiovascular disease, possibly via accelerated atherosclerosis. We examined associations between the progression of the intima-medial thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery, as an indicator of atherosclerosis, and long-term PM2.5 concentrations in participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).