Progress, prospects, and research needs on the health effects of acid aerosols.
Research on human exposure to acidic aerosols and the health effects of such exposures has substantially strengthened the hypothesis that such aerosols are a causal factor for excesses in human mortality and morbidity that have been previously associated with crude exposure indices such as British Smoke, total suspended particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. Research reported at this symposium also showed that combined exposures to acid aerosols and other ubiquitous air pollutants such as O3, NO2, HNO3, and SO2 produce greater effects in both humans and animals than exposures to each agent separately. The responses reported ranged from physiological functions to lung structure. Furthermore, some of the effects were cumulative with increasing duration of daily exposure and number of repetitive exposures. Critical areas for further research include better definition of the critical temporal parameters affecting exposure and response, effects of mixed pollutant exposures, and pathogenetic mechanisms for acid aerosol-induced chronic lung damage.
Lippmann
M
M
New York University Medical Center, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Tuxedo 10987.
D015258:Acid Rain / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D009566:Nitrates / Q000009:adverse effects; D017942:Nitric Acid; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000009:adverse effects; D010126:Ozone / Q000009:adverse effects; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000009:adverse effects; D013464:Sulfuric Acids / Q000009:adverse effects
D015258:Acid Rain; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D009566:Nitrates; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D017942:Nitric Acid; D010126:Ozone; C033158:sulfuric acid; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide