California researchers have found a significant link between haze-causing tailpipe exhaust particles and health-related daily death rates. The link was seen in Sacramento and other populous counties in California, the Sacramento Bee reported. The statistical analysis showed a strong enough correlation to implicate the wind-blown specks in the deaths, which would be limited mainly to people with heart or lung disease, the researchers said. Health-related deaths in Sacramento County averaged 22 a day during the 1999-2002 study period. "These people are dying earlier than what their life expectancy normally would be," said Bart Ostro, the state's epidemiologist who conducted the study with scientists in the University of California system. The study said the link is particularly evident among women, diabetics and people over 65. The findings appear in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Studies from other parts of the world also have tied the inhalation of microscopic specks, or soot, to heart attacks and lung-related deaths. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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