Objective - Methods for quantifying the health risks associated with exposure to air pollution have been developed over the past 20 years. Cardiovascular health has rapidly become the focus of numerous studies, as epidemiological and experimental research has shown that it is affected by air pollutants at least as much as respiratory health. Today, a great deal of knowledge is available regarding both the existence of harmful effects of air pollution on cardiovascular health and the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these effects. The aim of this study was to quantify the short-term links between air pollution levels commonly found in French urban areas, on the one hand, and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, on the other. Method - The study is based on time-series analyses to link short-term variations in health indicators (mortality and hospitalizations for cardiovascular causes) to those of air pollution exposure indicators (NO2, O3, and PM10). Relative risks were estimated for each city (nine for mortality and eight for hospitalizations), followed by a combined analysis of these results. Combined excess relative risks (expressed as percentages) were thus calculated. Results - The risk of death from cardiovascular and cardiac causes is significantly associated with all of the pollution indicators studied. Hospitalizations for cardiovascular and cardiac causes, as well as for ischemic heart disease, are also significantly associated with levels of NO2 and PM10, but not with ozone. Discussion - These results are consistent with those obtained in other epidemiological studies. The results available to date indicate that exposure to air pollutants may induce oxidative stress, inflammation, and alterations in the autonomic nervous system, which are thought to be responsible for these effects. (R.A.)