AUTHOR=Castro Alberto , Röösli Martin , de Hoogh Kees , Kappeler Ron , Kutlar Joss Meltem , Vienneau Danielle , Künzli Nino 

TITLE=Methods Matter: A Comparative Review of Health Risk Assessments for Ambient Air Pollution in Switzerland

JOURNAL=Public Health Reviews

VOLUME=43

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/public-health-reviews/articles/10.3389/phrs.2022.1604431

DOI=10.3389/phrs.2022.1604431

ISSN=2107-6952

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> Air pollution health risk assessments (AP-HRAs) provide a method to quantify health effects for entire populations. In Switzerland, AP-HRAs are included in Swiss assessments for Transport Externalities (STEs), ordered by public authorities since the 1990s. This study aimed to describe the differences among national and international AP-HRAs for Switzerland.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We compared input data, approaches and results across AP-HRAs over time. Results and input data for each AP-HRA were expressed as a ratio compared to the most recent STE (in most cases STE-2010).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Substantial variation across AP-HRAs was found. For all-cause adult mortality attributed to particulate matter (the most frequent outcome-pollutant pair), the ratio in HRAs oscillated from 0.40 to 2.09 (times the STE-2010 value). Regarding input data, the ratio ranged from 0.69 to 1.26 for population exposure, from 0 to 1.81 for counterfactual scenario, from 0.96 to 1.13 for concentration-response function and from 1.03 to 1.13 for baseline health data.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> This study demonstrates that methods matter for AP-HRAs. Transparent and possibly standardized reporting of key input data and assumptions should be promoted to facilitate comparison of AP-HRAs.</p>