title: Beyond PM2.5: The role of ultrafine particles on adverse health effects of air pollution.
abstract: Air pollution constitutes the major threat to human health, whereas their adverse impacts and underlying mechanisms of different particular matters are not clearly defined.
  
  
  
  Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are high related to the anthropogenic emission sources, i.e. combustion engines and power plants. Their composition, source, typical characters, oxidative effects, potential exposure routes and health risks were thoroughly reviewed.
  
  
  
  UFPs play a major role in adverse impacts on human health and require further investigations in future toxicological research of air pollution.
  
  
  
  Unlike PM2.5, UFPs may have much more impacts on human health considering loads of evidences emerging from particulate matters and nanotoxicology research fields. The knowledge of nanotoxicology contributes to the understanding of toxicity mechanisms of airborne UFPs in air pollution. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Air Pollution, edited by Wenjun Ding, Andrew J. Ghio and Weidong Wu.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ambient Particles Health Effects and Prevention Techniques, National Center for Nanoscience & Technology of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: chenr@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ambient Particles Health Effects and Prevention Techniques, National Center for Nanoscience & Technology of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: hub@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ambient Particles Health Effects and Prevention Techniques, National Center for Nanoscience & Technology of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: liuy@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ambient Particles Health Effects and Prevention Techniques, National Center for Nanoscience & Technology of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: xujx@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: yanggs@ihep.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guosheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: xudd@ihep.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Diandou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ambient Particles Health Effects and Prevention Techniques, National Center for Nanoscience & Technology of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: chenchy@nanoctr.cn.
authors.forename: Chunying
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D052638:Particulate Matter; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
keywords: Air pollution; Nanotoxicology; PM(0.1); PM(2.5); Toxicology; Ultrafine particles