title: Outdoor air pollution: particulate matter health effects.
abstract: Numerous investigations studying multiple populations across a variety of environmental settings have demonstrated a strong association between ambient air particulate matter and cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. In most studies, the effect size of ambient air particulate pollution on health outcomes is small. However, the exposed population worldwide is very large. Accordingly, particulate air pollution appears to be an important public health hazard that makes an important contribution to the total burden of disease and death in populations across the world. Much of the evidence linking ambient air particulates with adverse health effects is derived from population-based, observational research with potential unidentified confounding exposures, precluding definitive assessments about causation and providing limited mechanistic insights. A growing body of research suggests particulate-associated adverse health effects result from the induction of proinflammatory responses in the lower respiratory tract. Ambient air particulates may increase lung cancer risk.
authors: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
authors: Tze-Ming
authors: TM
authors: Chen
authors: Janaki
authors: J
authors: Gokhale
authors: Scott
authors: S
authors: Shofer
authors: Ware G
authors: WG
authors: Kuschner
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D010316:Particle Size; D011634:Public Health
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants