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International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2020Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by variable airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and airway inflammation. Evidence suggests that air... (Review)
Review
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by variable airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and airway inflammation. Evidence suggests that air pollution has a negative impact on asthma outcomes in both adult and pediatric populations. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on the effect of various outdoor and indoor pollutants on asthma outcomes, their burden on its management, as well as to highlight the measures that could result in improved asthma outcomes. Traffic-related air pollution, nitrogen dioxide and second-hand smoking (SHS) exposures represent significant risk factors for asthma development in children. Nevertheless, a causal relation between air pollution and development of adult asthma is not clearly established. Exposure to outdoor pollutants can induce asthma symptoms, exacerbations and decreases in lung function. Active tobacco smoking is associated with poorer asthma control, while exposure to SHS increases the risk of asthma exacerbations, respiratory symptoms and healthcare utilization. Other indoor pollutants such as heating sources and molds can also negatively impact the course of asthma. Global measures, that aim to reduce exposure to air pollutants, are highly needed in order to improve the outcomes and management of adult and pediatric asthma in addition to the existing guidelines.
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Air Pollution, Indoor; Asthma; Child; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Nitrogen Dioxide; Tobacco Smoke Pollution
PubMed: 32867076
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17176212 -
Current Environmental Health Reports Dec 2017Air pollution significantly affects health, causing up to 7 million premature deaths annually with an even larger number of hospitalizations and days of sick leave.... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Air pollution significantly affects health, causing up to 7 million premature deaths annually with an even larger number of hospitalizations and days of sick leave. Climate change could alter the dispersion of primary pollutants, particularly particulate matter, and intensify the formation of secondary pollutants, such as near-surface ozone. The purpose of the review is to evaluate the recent evidence on the impacts of climate change on air pollution and air pollution-related health impacts and identify knowledge gaps for future research.
RECENT FINDINGS
Several studies modelled future ozone and particulate matter concentrations and calculated the resulting health impacts under different climate scenarios. Due to climate change, ozone- and fine particle-related mortalities are expected to increase in most studies; however, results differ by region, assumed climate change scenario and other factors such as population and background emissions. This review explores the relationships between climate change, air pollution and air pollution-related health impacts. The results highly depend on the climate change scenario used and on projections of future air pollution emissions, with relatively high uncertainty. Studies primarily focused on mortality; projections on the effects on morbidity are needed.
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Climate Change; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Ozone; Particulate Matter; Public Health
PubMed: 29080073
DOI: 10.1007/s40572-017-0168-6 -
Annual Review of Medicine Jan 2022Inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM), produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Exposure to PM has been... (Review)
Review
Inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM), produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Exposure to PM has been linked to increases in blood pressure, thrombosis, and insulin resistance. It also induces vascular injury and accelerates atherogenesis. Results from animal models corroborate epidemiological evidence and suggest that the cardiovascular effects of PM may be attributable, in part, to oxidative stress, inflammation, and the activation of the autonomic nervous system. Although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, there is robust evidence that long-term exposure to PM is associated with premature mortality due to heart failure, stoke, and ischemic heart disease.
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Animals; Cardiovascular Diseases; Humans; Lung; Particulate Matter
PubMed: 34644154
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-med-042220-011549 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2017In the last few decades, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has received increasing attention from the international scientific community, political institutions, and...
In the last few decades, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has received increasing attention from the international scientific community, political institutions, and environmental governances for improving the comfort, health, and wellbeing of building occupants.[...].
Topics: Air Pollution, Indoor; Environmental Health; Humans; Public Health
PubMed: 29068361
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14111286 -
The Lancet. Planetary Health Aug 2021Stroke is a leading cause of disability and the second most common cause of death worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that air pollution is an emerging risk factor... (Review)
Review
Stroke is a leading cause of disability and the second most common cause of death worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that air pollution is an emerging risk factor for stroke. Over the past decades, air pollution levels have continuously increased and are now estimated to be responsible for 14% of all stroke-associated deaths. Interpretation of previous literature is difficult because stroke was usually not distinguished as ischaemic or haemorrhagic, nor by cause. This Review summarises the evidence on the association between air pollution and the different causes of ischaemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke, to clarify which people are most at risk. The risk for ischaemic stroke is increased after short-term or long-term exposure to air pollution. This effect is most pronounced in people with cardiovascular burden and stroke due to large artery disease or small vessel disease. Short-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of intracerebral haemorrhage, a subtype of haemorrhagic stroke, whereas the effects of long-term exposure are less clear. Limitations of the current evidence are that studies are prone to misclassification of exposure, often rely on administrative data, and have insufficient clinical detail. In this Review, we provide an outlook on new research opportunities, such as those provided by the decreased levels of air pollution due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics: Air Pollution; COVID-19; Hemorrhagic Stroke; Humans; Ischemic Stroke; Risk
PubMed: 34390672
DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00145-5 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2022Air pollution is inevitably the result of human civilization, industrialization, and globalization. It is composed of a mixture of gases and particles at harmful levels.... (Review)
Review
Air pollution is inevitably the result of human civilization, industrialization, and globalization. It is composed of a mixture of gases and particles at harmful levels. Particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxides (CO) are mainly generated from vehicle emissions and fuel consumption and are the main materials causing outdoor air pollution. Exposure to polluted outdoor air has been proven to be harmful to human eyes. On the other hand, indoor air pollution from environmental tobacco smoking, heating, cooking, or poor indoor ventilation is also related to several eye diseases, including conjunctivitis, glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In the past 30 years, no updated review has provided an overview of the impact of air pollution on the eye. We reviewed reports on air pollution and eye diseases in the last three decades in the PubMed database, Medline databases, and Google Scholar and discussed the effect of various outdoor and indoor pollutants on human eyes.
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Air Pollution, Indoor; Environmental Monitoring; Humans; Particulate Matter
PubMed: 35162209
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031186 -
Environment International Feb 2021Exposure to air pollution and physical inactivity are both significant risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These risk factors are also linked so that the... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Exposure to air pollution and physical inactivity are both significant risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These risk factors are also linked so that the change in exposure in one will impact risks and benefits of the other. These links are well captured in the active transport (walking, cycling) health impact models, in which the increases in active transport leading to increased inhaled dose of air pollution. However, these links are more complex and go beyond the active transport research field. Hence, in this study, we aimed to summarize the empirical evidence on the links between air pollution and physical activity, and their combined effect on individual and population health.
OBJECTIVES AND METHODS
We conducted a non-systematic mapping review of empirical and modelling evidence of the possible links between exposure to air pollution and physical activity published until Autumn 2019. We reviewed empirical evidence for the (i) impact of exposure to air pollution on physical activity behaviour, (ii) exposure to air pollution while engaged in physical activity and (iii) the short-term and (iv) long-term health effects of air pollution exposure on people engaged in physical activity. In addition, we reviewed (v) public health modelling studies that have quantified the combined effect of air pollution and physical activity. These broad research areas were identified through expert discussions, including two public events performed in health-related conferences.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The current literature suggests that air pollution may decrease physical activity levels during high air pollution episodes or may prevent people from engaging in physical activity overall in highly polluted environments. Several studies have estimated fine particulate matter (PM) exposure in active transport environment in Europe and North-America, but the concentration in other regions, places for physical activity and for other air pollutants are poorly understood. Observational epidemiological studies provide some evidence for a possible interaction between air pollution and physical activity for acute health outcomes, while results for long-term effects are mixed with several studies suggesting small diminishing health gains from physical activity due to exposure to air pollution for long-term outcomes. Public health modelling studies have estimated that in most situations benefits of physical activity outweigh the risks of air pollution, at least in the active transport environment. However, overall evidence on all examined links is weak for low- and middle-income countries, for sensitive subpopulations (children, elderly, pregnant women, people with pre-existing conditions), and for indoor air pollution.
CONCLUSIONS
Physical activity and air pollution are linked through multiple mechanisms, and these relations could have important implications for public health, especially in locations with high air pollution concentrations. Overall, this review calls for international collaboration between air pollution and physical activity research fields to strengthen the evidence base on the links between both and on how policy options could potentially reduce risks and maximise health benefits.
Topics: Aged; Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Child; Environmental Exposure; Europe; Exercise; Female; Humans; North America; Particulate Matter; Pregnancy
PubMed: 33352412
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105954 -
International Journal of Environmental... Feb 2021Air pollution is one of the major environmental health problems that people face nowadays, affecting everyone in the world [...].
Air pollution is one of the major environmental health problems that people face nowadays, affecting everyone in the world [...].
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Health; Humans
PubMed: 33668253
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052233 -
Aging Cell May 2022Sleep has been associated with aging and relevant health outcomes, but the causal relationship remains inconclusive. In this study, we investigated the associations of...
Sleep has been associated with aging and relevant health outcomes, but the causal relationship remains inconclusive. In this study, we investigated the associations of sleep behaviors with biological ages (BAs) among 363,886 middle and elderly adults from UK Biobank. Sleep index (0 [worst]-6 [best]) of each participant was retrieved from the following six sleep behaviors: snoring, chronotype, daytime sleepiness, sleep duration, insomnia, and difficulties in getting up. Two BAs, the KDM-biological age and PhenoAge, were estimated by corresponding algorithms based on clinical traits, and their residual discrepancies with chronological age were defined as the age accelerations (AAs). We first observed negative associations between the sleep index and the two AAs, and demonstrated that the change of AAs could be the consequence of sleep quality using Mendelian randomization with genetic risk scores of sleep index and BAs. Particularly, a one-unit increase in sleep index was associated with 0.104- and 0.119-year decreases in KDM-biological AA and PhenoAge acceleration, respectively. Air pollution is another key driver of aging. We further observed significant independent and joint effects of sleep and air pollution (PM and NO ) on AAs. Sleep quality also showed a modifying effect on the associations of elevated PM and NO levels with accelerated AAs. For instance, an interquartile range increase in PM level was associated with 0.009-, 0.044-, and 0.074-year increase in PhenoAge acceleration among people with high (5-6), medium (3-4), and low (0-2) sleep index, respectively. Our findings elucidate that better sleep quality could lessen accelerated biological aging resulting from air pollution.
Topics: Aged; Aging; Air Pollution; Biological Specimen Banks; Humans; Middle Aged; Nitrogen Dioxide; Particulate Matter; Sleep Quality; United Kingdom
PubMed: 35421261
DOI: 10.1111/acel.13610 -
American Journal of Respiratory and... Oct 2021
Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Humans; Lung Neoplasms
PubMed: 34370960
DOI: 10.1164/rccm.202107-1576ED