The assessment of the health impacts of air pollution on the Toulon metropolitan area, presented in this report, is fully in line with the guidelines of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Air Quality Plan, which sets out strategies to prevent, reduce, or mitigate the effects of air pollution. The short-term health impact of air pollution was calculated in terms of morbidity (hospital admissions in 2000) and premature mortality (for 1999). The long-term health impact was estimated based on the number of deaths attributable to air pollution. The study area selected comprises four urban municipalities: Toulon, La Garde, La Seyne-sur-Mer, and La Valette-du-Var, representing a total population of 267,808 inhabitants. Regarding the short-term health impact, the total number of premature deaths attributable to air pollution in 1999 amounts to 84 deaths, including 30 deaths due to cardiovascular disease and 10 deaths due to respiratory disease. Calculations of health benefits associated with various air pollution reduction scenarios show that the most effective scenarios are those involving a 25% reduction in the annual average concentration of the pollutant in question. Regarding long-term health benefits, the various scenarios indicate that compliance with the European standard scheduled for 2010 should prevent 118 deaths out of the total number of deaths recorded in a year. This study shows in particular that health effects occur at pollution levels well below those for which measures are currently taken, and that the most effective actions would therefore be those that combine daily reductions in emissions at the source with a significant decrease in the number of annual pollution peaks. (R.A.)