Uncertainties, limitations and biases may impede the correct application of concentrationresponse linear functions to estimate the effects of air pollution exposure on population health. The reliability of a prediction depends largely on the strength of the linear correlation between the studied variables. This work proposes the joint use of the coefficient of determination, r 2 , with the regression slope, b, as an improved measure of the strength of the linear relation between air pollution

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... d its effects on population health. The proposed br 2 -weighting method offers more reliable inferences about the potential effects of air pollution on population health, and can be applied universally to other fields of research.