Smog Linked to Lung Cancer in Men

The study, conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., found that women did not share the increased risk of lung cancer with men. However, both men and women face increased risk of lung cancer from high levels of soot particles and sulfur dioxide in the air, the researchers found.

This danger from dirty air adds to a growing list of problems associated with smog, including asthma and other breathing-related ailments, said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust.

"This study is dramatic new evidence that we need much cleaner gasoline as well as cleaner cars, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks", said O'Donnell.

Motor vehicles are a primary source of smog-forming chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency is under pressure from environmental groups such as the Clean Air Trust to pass tougher clean air standards for motor vehicles and gasoline.

In the study, Loma Linda researchers followed more than 6,000 non-smoking Seventh-Day Adventists in California for 15 years. They found that men who didn't smoke but lived in smoggy areas were more than three times as likely to have lung cancer than men in areas with cleaner air.

The scientists had several theories why women seemed less at risk of cancer from smog, including that men spend far more time outdoors in the summer when ozone is worst or that estrogen somehow neutralizes the dangerous ozone.

Last month, the state of California set stricter standards for future cars, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks. The state already has cleaner, low-sulfur gasoline, which enables vehicle pollution control equipment to work properly.

"Public health and environmental groups believe the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should follow suit with strict national vehicle and gasoline standards because smog is a national problem", said O'Donnell.