Using the natural experiment of air pollution declines during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the researchers evaluated whether having specific months of pregnancy (i.e. 1st…8th) during the 2008 Olympic period was associated with larger birth weights, compared with pregnancies during the same dates in 2007 or 2009.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a problematic inhalable air pollutant in areas of widespread industrialization, not only in the United States but also in countries undergoing rapid industrialization, such as China, and it can be a potential trigger factor for asthma exacerbations. It is known that asthmatics are sensitive to the effects of SO2; however, the basis of this enhanced sensitivity remains incompletely understood. A PubMed search was performed over the course of 2014, encompassing the following terms: asthma, airway inflammation, sulfur dioxide, IL-10, mouse studies, and human studies.

Air pollution is hypothesized to be a risk factor for diabetes. Epidemiological evidence is inconsistent and has not been systematically evaluated.

In four European cohorts, we investigated the cross-sectional association between long-term exposure to air pollution and intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CIMT), a pre-clinical marker of atherosclerosis.