Allegheny Front

Researchers wanted to know: “What if no one smoked 20 years ago, what would cancer rates look like today?" They found that lung cancer rates would plunge in areas with cleaner air, but not for areas with higher levels of air pollution, like benzene, a pollutant found in the Mon Valley.

Study finds link between air pollution and lung cancer rates When researchers took smoking out of the equation, lung cancer rates dropped much more than in counties with cleaner air.