Declining air pollution and its effect on mortality-Findings from the German reunification.

The negative association between air pollution and human life expectancy is well established. Short episodes as well as continued exposure to high concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are connected with increased mortality mainly from circulatory and respiratory diseases. East Germans before reunifcation suffered from consistently high levels of air pollution which dropped dramatically after the fall of the iron curtain. At the same time mortality declined and eventually converged to the West German level. This study seeks to quantify the impact of dropping SO2 and NO2 concentrations on all-cause, circulatory and respiratory mortality as well as mortality from neoplasms and its contribution to converging life expectancy between East and West Germany.