Cancer of the lung and los-angeles-type air pollution.Prospective study

Questionnaires on cigarette smoking status, residence history and other characteristics were mailed to men of the California Division of the American Legion. Subsequent checking of this population against the California mortality records for 1959 through 1962 disclosed the numbers of deaths, including those due to cancer of the lung and provided 336,571 man-years of observation. The pulmonary cancer gradient by smoking level was less pronounced than that found in other studies. The two major metropolitan areas. Los Angeles and Bay Area plus San Diego, had higher mortality rates for cancer of the lung than remaining mixed rural and urban counties and these differences were relatively greater among nonsmokers. With controls for smoking and length of residence, the risk of pulmonary cancer in Los Angeles, where photochemical air pollution levels are highest, was not greater than in other major metropolitan areas of California.