A novel method for studying population health impacts of spatiotemporal ozone distribution

This work is concerned with the development of a method to study the impact of ozone exposure on human health. The analysis is based on random field representations of exposure variation and health damage uncertainty in a composite space/time continuum, which previous studies did not allow. Ozone exposure-health damage is considered as a spatiotemporal holistic system, by looking at the whole picture, not just certain isolated parts. Ozone maps over the eastern United States provide the basic framework for studying exposure-health relationships, that focus on a community wise basis. Composite space/time maps of health damage indicators associated with the ozone exposure levels are obtained. These maps constitute an important part of many health studies, offering a valuable description of the data and an important basis for further analysis. Health damage maps can identify, for example, regions over the eastern United States that will respond in certain ways to variation of ozone levels or the application of health management practices. Application areas are identified for future study. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.