Traffic related air pollutants shorten life expectancy
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* A Bhowmik

▴ Hoek G, Brunekref B, Goldbohm S, *et al*. Association between mortality and indicators of traffic-related air pollution in the Netherlands: a cohort study. Lancet2002;360:1203–9.

[CrossRef](http://thorax.bmj.com/lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11280-3&link_type=DOI) 

[PubMed](http://thorax.bmj.com/lookup/external-ref?access_num=12401246&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fthoraxjnl%2F58%2F1%2F57.atom) 

[Web of Science](http://thorax.bmj.com/lookup/external-ref?access_num=000178708100009&link_type=ISI) 

This was a study of a random sample of 5000 subjects aged 59–69 years selected from the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer. The patients were contacted every 2 years from 1986 to 1994 to determine migration and to assess vital status and deaths. There were 489 deaths in this period. Cardiopulmonary mortality was associated with living near a major roadway—that is, 100 m from a highway or 50 m from a main road (relative risk 1.95, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.52).

This paper is yet further evidence that air pollutants or some closely associated pollutant from road traffic contribute to cardiopulmonary mortality.