Under EPA rules, the maximum allowable level of 10-micron particles in 24 hours is 150 micrograms per cubic meter. All 20 cities averaged levels of one third or less of the maximum. If it rises 40 micrograms, you can add two deaths. Los Angeles averaged 148 deaths a day from 1987 through 1994, when the study took place. New York averaged 190.9, and Chicago 113.9.
Total mortality is a relatively crude indicator of population health.
The EPA rules on fine particulate pollution are now before the Supreme Court, but the findings have no direct bearing on the case, which looks at the evidence the EPA used to make its decision in 1997. The main question before the high court is whether pollution regulations must consider the costs of compliance. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.