Author Affiliation: Biomedical Sciences, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom.

Keywords: Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Air Pollution - adverse effects - analysis; Carbon Monoxide - adverse effects - analysis; Cold Climate - adverse effects; Humans; London; Middle Aged; Mortality - trends; Regression Analysis; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Smoke - adverse effects - analysis; Sulfur Dioxide - adverse effects - analysis; Temperature; Time Factors; Weather

Abstract: We looked for atypical weather patterns that could confound, and explain large inconsistencies in, conventional estimates of mortality due to SO(2), CO, and smoke. Using Greater London data for 1976-1995 in the linear temperature/mortality range 0-15 degrees C we determined weather patterns associated with pollutants (all deseasonalized) by single regressions of daily temperature, wind, rain, humidity, and sunshine at successive days advance and delay. Polluted days were colder (P0.05) some increase with smoke, perhaps acting as surrogate for PM(10), for which data were too scanty to analyze.