Three decades of rapid economic development is causing severe and widespread PM2.5 pollution in China. However, research on the health impacts of PM2.5 exposure has been hindered by limited historical PM2.5 concentration data. The researchers estimated ambient PM2.5 concentrations from 2004 to 2013 in China at 0.1 degree resolution using the latest satellite data and evaluated model performance with available ground observations.

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Epidemiological studies investigating the role of fine particulate matter (PM2.5; aerodynamic diameter <2.5 lm) in triggering acute coronary events, including out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and ischemic heart disease (IHD), during wildfires have been inconclusive. The researchers examined the associations of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, IHD, acute myocardial infarction, and angina (hospital admissions and emergency department attendance) with PM2.5 concentrations during the 2006–2007 wildfires in Victoria, Australia, using a time-stratified case-crossover study design.

Congenital heart defects are the most prevalent type of birth defects. The association of air pollution with congenital heart defects is not well understood. We investigated a cohort of 8969 singleton live births in Lanzhou, China during 2010–2012. Using inverse distance weighting, maternal exposures to particulate matter with diameters ≤10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) were estimated as a combination of monitoring station levels for time spent at home and in a work location.

Very little is currently known about air pollutants’ adverse effects on neurodegenerative diseases even though recent studies have linked particulate exposures to brain pathologies associated with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Here we investigate long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and Parkinson’s disease.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between long-term exposure to air pollution and non accidental and cause-specific mortality in the Netherlands based on existing national databases.

Lung reactions to exposure to dust, gases, and fumes at work places have been studied in different populations. The emission level of pollutants that emit particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in size (PM 10) has been found very high in Ahmedabad. Hence, petrol pump workers in Ahmedabad are likely to get exposed to a high level of air pollution along with petrol and diesel vapors. Both of these factors can affect the respiratory health of petrol pump workers.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has a large and well-documented global burden of disease. Our analysis uses high-resolution (10 km, global-coverage) concentration data and cause-specific integrated exposure-response (IER) functions developed for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 to assess how regional and global improvements in ambient air quality could reduce attributable mortality from PM2.5. Overall, an aggressive global program of PM2.5 mitigation in line with WHO interim guidelines could avoid 750 000 (23%) of the 3.2 million deaths per year currently (ca.

he health effects of suspended particulate matter (PM) may depend on its chemical composition. Associations between maternal exposure to chemical constituents of PM and newborn’s size have been little examined. The researchers aimed to investigate the associations of exposure to elemental constituents of PM with term low birth weight (LBW, weight

There is something cyclical about the air pollution debate in Delhi - almost like the seasonal cycle of air pollution itself. When air pollution control slows down and the courts step in to demand action against the killer pollution, especially toxic vehicular fumes, the city gets swamped with 'scientific facts' to prove that all other pollution sources matter more than the vehicles. Instead of science becoming an enabler, it confounds action.

Short-term exposure to air pollution has adverse effects among patients with asthma, but whether long-term exposure to air pollution is a cause of adult-onset asthma is unclear. The researchers aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and adult onset asthma.