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A compelling, real-life account of how scientists uncovered air pollution’s deadly impact on human health—and the contentious battles to use key scientific evidence in the critical fight for clean air.
Through firsthand accounts, Pope and Dockery bring the scientific discoveries regarding the health effects of air pollution and accompanying controversies to life. They describe the real-world challenges of conducting impactful research when public health clashes with economic interests and politics. Despite these challenges, they and their colleagues persisted, accumulating evidence that supports landmark clean-air legislation and pollution reduction efforts worldwide. These efforts have led to improved public health and are saving lives. More than an inside look at pioneering air pollution research and the hidden health burden of air pollution,
List of contents
Foreword
Gina McCarthy
Prologue
1. What is healthy air, and why does it matter?
2. Does air pollution smell like money or disease?
3. Does regular exposure to air pollution harm population health?
4. Do long-term exposures increase the risk of disease and death?
5. Were the cohort studies reproducible—or just “secret science”?
6. Environmental justice and air pollution: Who pays?
7. Does reducing air pollution improve health and reduce mortality?
8. If air pollution is so lethal, why isn’t everyone dead?
9. Does air pollution research provide evidence of a causal relationship?
10. How does air pollution cause health effects?
11. Is pollution control worth the economic cost?
12. When will the evidence end the controversy?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the author
C. Arden Pope III is a Karl G. Maeser Distinguished University Professor at Brigham Young University. Widely recognized as a leading expert on the health effects of air pollution, he has advised numerous scientific boards and committees and has received multiple research and teaching awards.
Douglas W. Dockery is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Research Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Emeritus, at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He directed the Harvard–NIEHS Center for Environmental Health Sciences and chaired the Department of Environmental Health.
Summary
A compelling, real-life account of how scientists uncovered air pollution s deadly impact on human health and the contentious battles to use key scientific evidence in the critical fight for clean air.
