Policy Documents

What's Wrong with the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for Fine Particulate Matter (PM 2.5)?

Laura C. Green, Edmund A. C. Crouch, Michael R. Ames, and Timothy L. Lash –
January 11, 2002
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Associations between airborne concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and mortality rates have been investigated primarily by ecologic or semi-ecologic epidemiology studies.  Many investigators and regulatory agencies have inferred that the weak, positive association often observed is causal, that it applies to all forms of PM 2.5, and that current ambient levels of PM 2.5 require reduction.