%0 Journal Article %T A Review of the Epidemiological Methods Used to Investigate the Health Impacts of Air Pollution around Major Industrial Areas %A Mathilde Pascal %A Laurence Pascal %A Marie-Laure Bidondo %A Amandine Cochet %A H¨¦l¨¨ne Sarter %A Morgane Stempfelet %A V¨¦r¨¨ne Wagner %J Journal of Environmental and Public Health %D 2013 %I Hindawi Publishing Corporation %R 10.1155/2013/737926 %X We performed a literature review to investigate how epidemiological studies have been used to assess the health consequences of living in the vicinity of industries. 77 papers on the chronic effects of air pollution around major industrial areas were reviewed. Major health themes were cancers (27 studies), morbidity (25 studies), mortality (7 studies), and birth outcome (7 studies). Only 3 studies investigated mental health. While studies were available from many different countries, a majority of papers came from the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Several studies were motivated by concerns from the population or by previous observations of an overincidence of cases. Geographical ecological designs were largely used for studying cancer and mortality, including statistical designs to quantify a relationship between health indicators and exposure. Morbidity was frequently investigated through cross-sectional surveys on the respiratory health of children. Few multicenter studies were performed. In a majority of papers, exposed areas were defined based on the distance to the industry and were located from <2£¿km to >20£¿km from the plants. Improving the exposure assessment would be an asset to future studies. Criteria to include industries in multicenter studies should be defined. 1. Introduction Industrial areas are characterized by a high density of industries, sharing common infrastructures, such as transport networks, waste water treatment plants, and waste incineration plants. These areas cluster at-risk activities and pollution sources. They have historically attracted, and may still attract, hundreds of employees who have settled in the vicinity of the plants. With extensive urbanization, industrial areas have been embedded in the urban landscape, increasing the nuisances and the exposure of the population. For instance, in the South of France, the industrial area of l¡¯etang de Berre hosts 430 industries classified for the protection of the environment and more than 60% of the Seveso II (referring to the European directive 96/82/CE) plants of the region. About 16 towns representing more than 300,000 inhabitants are exposed to the plumes produced by these plants [1]. People living near major industrial areas are facing complex situations of exposure: occupational and environmental exposure, multiexposure to chemicals combined with exposure to noise, dusts, visual pollution, stress, and so forth The possible associated health risks are of the highest concern to the population. Quantitative health risk assessments, based on the comparison of a %U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2013/737926/