Elizabeth T. Jacobs is with the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, and is also with the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson. Jefferey L. Burgess is with the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Mark B. Abbott is with Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Am J Public Health. 2018 Apr;108(S2):S85-S88. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.304219.
At a storefront museum approximately 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a sign reads, "Clean Air Started Here." This is not hyperbole. At the end of October 1948, the communities of Donora and Webster in Pennsylvania were visited by a smog that changed the face of environmental protection in the United States. Conservative estimates showed that 20 individuals died, while an additional 5900-43% of the population of Donora-were affected by the smog. This event led to the first large-scale epidemiological investigation of an environmental health disaster in the United States. Questions remain about the long-term effects of the smog, because higher rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer than were expected were observed in the region in the decade following the smog. Recent work has suggested that environmental contaminants from a bygone era in Donora might have an impact even today. In addition, reports regarding air pollution have indicated that levels of pollutants similar to those estimated to have occurred in Donora are currently present in some rapidly industrializing regions of China and India. Seventy years after the smog, this event still resonates.
在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡东南约 25 英里处的一个店面博物馆里，有一个标志上写着：“清洁空气始于此处。”这可不是夸张的说法。1948 年 10 月底，宾夕法尼亚州的唐纳拉和韦伯斯特社区遭遇了一场烟雾，这场烟雾改变了美国环境保护的面貌。保守估计显示，有 20 人死亡，而唐纳拉的另外 5900-43%的人口受到了烟雾的影响。这一事件导致了美国首次对环境健康灾难进行大规模的流行病学调查。关于烟雾的长期影响仍存在疑问，因为在烟雾事件发生后的十年里，该地区观察到心血管疾病和癌症的发病率高于预期。最近的研究表明，即使在今天，来自唐纳拉过去某个时代的环境污染物也可能产生影响。此外，有关空气污染的报告表明，目前在中国和印度一些快速工业化的地区，污染物的水平与估计在唐纳拉发生的水平相似。烟雾事件发生 70 年后，它仍然引起了共鸣。
