Because the cohort studies published the numbers of
deaths rather than lifetime lost, we primarily calculated
the attributable number of deaths. In the economic
valuation of death, however, assumptions about age
structure of those affected, may be influential.22 Both from
morbidity and short-term mortality studies air pollution
may be mostly related to cardiopulmonary disease,
including lung cancer. This subgroup tends to die, on
average, at older ages than all other non-violent causes of
death. For example, in 1995, the mean age at death due
to cardiopulmonary causes in Switzerland was 80 years,
whereas the mean age of all other non-violent causes of
death was 72 years.23 As a consequence, life expectancy is
shortened by about 6 months per 10 g/m3 increment in
PM10.
8 With this assumption, the lifetime lost among those
affected by air pollution is shorter than for other nonviolent
causes—for example, the average victim of traffic
accidents is much younger (