Diss. Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2015

Air pollution is an important environmental health factor contributing to the burden of disease. From a public health point of view cardiovascular effects of long-term exposure are predominant, primarily coronary events and stroke. However, sub-types of disease have not been well investigated and few studies have been conducted in areas with lower air pollution levels. The role of timing of exposure is also unclear. In epidemiological studies different types of models are used to estimate exposure of study participants. It is therefore important to understand if modeled levels are similar for different model types. Furthermore, there is a need to develop better modeling techniques, and it has been proposed to combine models into so called hybrid models. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relation between individual long-term air pollution exposure from road traffic and the risk of coronary events and stroke in an area with comparatively low exposure levels, while considering timing of exposure. Furthermore a comparison of dispersion modeling (DM) and land use regression (LUR) was done in several study areas and a hybrid model based on DM and LUR was developed for Stockholm. From four cohorts in Stockholm County, 20070 individuals were followed for an average of 12 years. Information on covariates was available from questionnaires and interviews from the time of recruitment. Air pollution exposure from traffic was assessed at residential addresses during follow-up using dispersion modeled levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), as a marker of exhaust emissions, and particles with an aerodynamic diameter of <10 ?m (PM10), as a marker of road dust.