POLLUTED AIR LINKED TO CANCER DEATH RISK.(MAIN)

Byline: LINDSEY TANNER Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Long-term exposure to the air pollution in some of America's biggest metropolitan areas significantly raises the risk of dying from lung cancer, a study of a half-million people found.

The study echoes previous research and provides the strongest evidence yet of the health dangers of the pollution levels found in many big cities and even some smaller ones, according to the researchers from Brigham Young University and New York University.

The risk is from what scientists call combustion-related fine particulate matter -- soot emitted by cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants and factories.

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