On 2014 Nov 07, F W Lipfert commented:

This paper is primarily statistical in nature and makes no claims about the physiology/etiology of SIDS. We show that PM10 is not responsible for excess SIDS and that using Woodruff et al.'s protocol predicts beneficial effects of SO4, which is one of the main constituents of PM2.5. In any event, 24 years have elapsed since our paper was published and uncertainties remain about the causes of SIDS. Perhaps new statistical analyses are warranted.

Fred Lipfert

On 2014 Nov 03, David Mage commented:

Higher SIDS rates in winter are not related to indoor or outdoor sources of PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 microns) because Hawaii with minimal (if any) seasonal variation has a SIDS maximum rate in the winter which is related to the ARI/RSV virus brought to Hawaii by the tourists from the mainland and Japan that maximizes there in the winter. The only known PM2.5 component associated with SIDS is tobacco smoke associated with parental smoking both during pregnancy and during the first year of life and that has no seasonal variation (PMID 15483306).

On 2014 Nov 03, David Mage commented:

Higher SIDS rates in winter are not related to indoor or outdoor sources of PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 microns) because Hawaii with minimal (if any) seasonal variation has a SIDS maximum rate in the winter which is related to the ARI/RSV virus brought to Hawaii by the tourists from the mainland and Japan that maximizes there in the winter. The only known PM2.5 component associated with SIDS is tobacco smoke associated with parental smoking both during pregnancy and during the first year of life and that has no seasonal variation (PMID 15483306).

On 2014 Nov 07, F W Lipfert commented:

This paper is primarily statistical in nature and makes no claims about the physiology/etiology of SIDS. We show that PM10 is not responsible for excess SIDS and that using Woodruff et al.'s protocol predicts beneficial effects of SO4, which is one of the main constituents of PM2.5. In any event, 24 years have elapsed since our paper was published and uncertainties remain about the causes of SIDS. Perhaps new statistical analyses are warranted.

Fred Lipfert