The association between fine and ultrafine particles and respiratory health was studied in adults with a history of asthma in Erfurt, Eastern Germany. Twenty-seven nonsmoking asthmatics recorded their peak expiratory flow (PEF) and respiratory symptoms daily. The size distribution of ambient particles in the range of 0.01 to 2.5 microm was determined with an aerosol spectrometer during the winter season 1991-1992. Most of the particles (73%) were in the ultrafine fraction (smaller than 0.1 microm in diameter), whereas most of the mass (82%) was attributable to particles in the size range of 0.1 to 0.5 microm. Because these two fractions did not have similar time courses (correlation coefficient r = 0.51), a comparison of their health effects was possible. Both fractions were associated with a decrease of PEF and an increase in cough and feeling ill during the day. Health effects of the 5-d mean of the number of ultrafine particles were larger than those of the mass of the fine particles. In addition, the effects of the number of the ultrafine particles on PEF were stronger than those of particulate matter smaller than 10 microm (PM10). Therefore, the present study suggests that the size distribution of ambient particles helps to elucidate the properties of ambient aerosols responsible for health effects.

Exposure to current levels of particulate matter in the atmosphere elicits an acute phase response in randomly selected healthy middle-aged men, which may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk caused by air pollution.

No abstract

Evidence from epidemiologic studies linking ambient concentrations of particulate matter to morbidity and mortality influenced the guidelines for air quality standards worldwide. With the improvement of measurement techniques, clearer effects were observed with smaller particle sizes. Based on these effects and results from animal studies on the potential toxicity of ultrafine particles, recent epidemiologic studies focus on the health effects of particles which are less than 100nm in diameter. However, most of the studies are ongoing and only few results have been available so far. Six panel studies with patients suffering from chronic pulmonary diseases have been performed in Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom. Overall, a decrease of peak expiratory flow (PEF) and an increase of daily symptoms and medication use was found for elevated daily particle concentrations. Effects were seen with both fine and ultrafine particles. One large study on daily mortality from Germany showed comparable effects of fine and ultrafine particles in all size classes considered. However, fine particles showed more immediate effects while ultrafine particles showed more delayed effects on mortality. The limited number of epidemiological studies suggest that there are health effects of fine and ultrafine particles which might be independent of each other. If these effects are confirmed by ongoing research, monitoring and regulation of particulate air pollution may need to be revised.

Background: The International Lung Cancer Consortium was established in 2004. To clarify the role of DNA repair genes in lung cancer susceptibility, we conducted a pooled analysis of genetic variants in DNA repair pathways, whose associations have been investigated by at least 3 individual studies. Methods: Data from 14 studies were pooled for 18 sequence variants in 12 DNA repair genes, including APEX1, OGG1, XRCC1, XRCC2, XRCC3, ERCC1, XPD, XPF, XPG, XPA, MGMT, and TP53. The total number of subjects included in the analysis for each variant ranged from 2,073 to 13,955 subjects. Results: Four of the variants were found to be weakly associated with lung cancer risk with borderline significance: these were XRCC3 T241M [heterozygote odds ratio (OR), 0.89; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.79-0.99 and homozygote OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.71-1.00]