title: Air pollution and the respiratory system.
abstract: Over the past 250 years-since the Industrial Revolution accelerated the process of pollutant emission, which, until then, had been limited to the domestic use of fuels (mineral and vegetal) and intermittent volcanic emissions-air pollution has been present in various scenarios. Today, approximately 50% of the people in the world live in cities and urban areas and are exposed to progressively higher levels of air pollutants. This is a non-systematic review on the different types and sources of air pollutants, as well as on the respiratory effects attributed to exposure to such contaminants. Aggravation of the symptoms of disease, together with increases in the demand for emergency treatment, the number of hospitalizations, and the number of deaths, can be attributed to particulate and gaseous pollutants, emitted by various sources. Chronic exposure to air pollutants not only causes decompensation of pre-existing diseases but also increases the number of new cases of asthma, COPD, and lung cancer, even in rural areas. Air pollutants now rival tobacco smoke as the leading risk factor for these diseases. We hope that we can impress upon pulmonologists and clinicians the relevance of investigating exposure to air pollutants and of recognizing this as a risk factor that should be taken into account in the adoption of best practices for the control of the acute decompensation of respiratory diseases and for maintenance treatment between exacerbations.
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Epidemiology Studies, Air Pollution Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil arbexma@techs.com.br
authors.forename: Marcos Abdo
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Arbex
authors.forename: Ubiratan de Paula
authors.initials: Ude P
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Lourdes Conceição
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Paulo Hilário Nascimento
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Saldiva
authors.forename: Luiz Alberto Amador
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Alfésio Luis Ferreira
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Braga
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D012137:Respiratory System; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants