Outdoor air pollution and lung cancer

Abstract

In the 1950s evidence of an ongoing epidemic of lung cancer in the United States and Western Europe led researchers to examine the role of outdoor air pollution, which was considered by some to be a likely cause. Although epidemiologic research quickly identified the central role of cigarette smoking in this epidemic, and despite progress in reducing outdoor air pollution in Western industrialized countries, concerns that ambient air pollution is causing lung cancer have persisted to the present day. This concern is based on the fact that known carcinogens continue to be released into outdoor air from industrial sources, power plants, and motor vehicles, and on a body of epidemiologic research that provides some evidence for an association between outdoor air pollution and lung cancer. This article reviews the epidemiologic evidence for this association and discusses the limitations of current studies for estimating the lung cancer risk in the general population. It also identifies research needs and suggests possible approaches to addressing outstanding questions.