Air Pollution

Black Americans are exposed to higher annual levels of air pollution containing fine particulate matter (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm [PM_2.5]) than White Americans and may be more susceptible to its health effects. Low-income Americans may also be more susceptible to PM_2.5 pollution than high-income Americans. Because information is lacking on exposure–response curves for PM_2.5 exposure and mortality among marginalized subpopulations categorized according to both race and socioeconomic position, the Environmental Protection Agency lacks important evidence to inform its regulatory rulemaking for PM_2.5 standards.

Research linking prenatal ambient air pollution with childhood lung function has largely considered one pollutant at a time. Real-life exposure is to mixtures of pollutants and their chemical components; not considering joint effects/effect modification by co-exposures contributes to misleading results.

The impact of exposure to air pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM), on the immune system and its consequences on pediatric asthma, are not well understood. We investigated whether ambient levels of fine PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 microns (PM_2.5) are associated with alterations in circulating monocytes in children with or without asthma.

Stronger regulations lowering levels of fine particulate air pollutants (PM2.5) would benefit the health of all Americans, but Black Americans and low-income Americans would likely reap the most benefits, including a lower risk of premature death, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

This instructional video focuses on five key ways in which fossil fuels, air pollution, and climate change are creating a long-lasting negative impact on infant and children’s health: extreme heat, climate-intensified events, changes in air quality, disruptions in food and water supply, and changes in vector ecology.

Breathing in microscopic air pollutants may raise the risk of developing dementia, according to a new analysis of existing research by public health scientists at Harvard.

Recently, air pollution has been suggested as a potential risk factor for low glomerular filtration rate and kidney disease. Inhaled air pollution can cause oxidative stress and DNA damage to kidney tissue, and cardiovascular and endocrine toxicities related to air pollution, such as disturbances in the autonomic nervous and circulatory systems and pulmonary inflammatory disease, have also been suggested as biological mechanisms linking air pollution exposure and kidney disease.

Although physical activity is strongly encouraged for patients with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it is unknown if physical activity affects daily exposure to air pollution, or whether it attenuates or exacerbates effects of pollution on the airways among adults with COPD

Our study adds to the sparse literature that examines whether arterial stiffness, related to cardiovascular risk, increases with exposure to air pollution. We assessed the associations between spatiotemporally resolved air pollutants and vascular and hemodynamic parameters in an elderly population-based in Eastern Massachusetts.

Forest fires cause many environmental impacts, including air pollution. Brazil is a very fire-prone region where few studies have investigated the impact of wildfires on air quality and health.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of arrival aircraft on particle number concentration (PNC), a proxy for UFP, across six study sites 3–17 km from a major arrival aircraft flight path into Boston Logan International Airport by utilizing real-time aircraft activity and meteorological data.

Ambient particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a leading cause of global disability and accounts for an annual 2.9 million deaths globally. PM is established as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, however the evidence supporting a link specifically between long-term exposure to ambient PM and incident stroke is less clear. We sought to evaluate the association of long-term exposure to different size fractions of ambient PM with incident stroke (overall and by etiologic subtypes) and cerebrovascular deaths within the Women’s Health Initiative, a large prospective study of older women in the US.