Air pollution and health
The LancetPublished 1 October 2002Open access
Bert Brunekreef, Stephen T. Holgate
Citations4,678
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TL;DR
The evidence for adverse effects on health of selected air pollutants is discussed, and it is unclear whether a threshold concentration exists for particulate matter and ozone below which no effect on health is likely.
Abstract
The health effects of air pollution have been subject to intense study in recent years. Exposure to pollutants such as airborne particulate matter and ozone has been associated with increases in mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. These effects have been found in short-term studies, which relate day-to-day variations in air pollution and health, and long-term studies, which have followed cohorts of exposed individuals over time. Effects have been seen at very low levels of exposure, and it is unclear whether a threshold concentration exists for particulate matter and ozone below which no effects on health are likely. In this review, we discuss the evidence for adverse effects on health of selected air pollutants.
Keywords
Environmental Science
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Environmental Health PerspectivesHealth effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985.
158 Citations1989H.‐Erich Wichmann, William Mueller +7 more
The study suggests moderate health effects due to increased air pollution during the smog episode in parts of West Germany, including the Rhur District.
Journal of Allergy and Clinical ImmunologyEffect of ozone and nitrogen dioxide on the release of proinflammatory mediators from bronchial epithelial cells of nonatopic nonasthmatic subjects and atopic asthmatic patients in vitro
156 Citations2001Hasan Bayram, R.J. Sapsford +2 more
O3 and NO2 may modulate airway diseases, such as asthma, by increasing the release of inflammatory mediators from bronchial epithelial cells and that the cells of asthmatic subjects may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of these pollutants.
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental EpidemiologyEpidemiological studies of acute ozone exposures and mortality
155 Citations2001George D. Thurston, Kazuhiko Ito
It is concluded that, unlike for particulate matter (PM) mass, the mortality effect estimates derived by time-series analyses for O 3 can be sensitive to the way that weather is addressed in the model.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care MedicineThe Effect of Repeated Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution (PM10) on the Bone Marrow
145 Citations2001Hiroshi Mukae, Renaud Vincent +5 more
It is concluded that repeated exposure to PM10 stimulates the bone marrow to increase the production of PMN in the marrow and accelerate the release of more immature PMN into the circulation.
Environmental ResearchDoes Weather Confound or Modify the Association of Particulate Air Pollution with Mortality?
141 Citations1998Jonathan M. Samet, Scott L. Zeger +3 more
Using synoptic weather categories in regression models does not meaningfully change the association between mortality and air pollution indexes, and there is little evidence that weather conditions modified the effect of pollution, regardless of the approach used to represent weather.
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