An assessment of the health impacts of urban air pollution was conducted in the Perpignan metropolitan area as part of the Regional Air Quality Plan. This study was carried out using a standardized method proposed by the InVS, which is based on a key assumption: the causal relationship between air pollution and health. The short- and long-term health impacts of air pollution are calculated in terms of morbidity and premature mortality. The results show that, each year, air pollution is responsible for 39 premature deaths across all age groups, 19 hospital admissions for respiratory causes, and 26 hospital admissions for cardiovascular causes among adults aged 65 and older. A calculation of the expected health benefits following a reduction in exposure levels shows that, given annual average PM10 levels well above 20 μg/m³, a 5 μg/m³ decrease in the annual average PM10 level—equivalent to reducing the annual average to 20 μg/m³—would constitute an effective public health measure. The results presented in this study are minimum estimates of the health impacts of air pollution and should therefore be considered as orders of magnitude. Their purpose is to quantify the local impact of pollution in terms of the number of attributable cases, in order to enable policymakers to base a policy to reduce air pollution on locally established health arguments. (R.A.)