A comprehensive understanding of ambient particulate matter and its components on the adverse health effects based from epidemiological and laboratory evidence

Abstract

The impacts of air pollution on public health have become a great concern worldwide. Ambient particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollution that comprises a heterogeneous mixture of different particle sizes and chemical components. The chemical composition and physicochemical properties of PM change with space and time, which may cause different impairments. However, the mechanisms of the adverse effects of PM on various systems have not been fully elucidated and systematically integrated. The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework was used to comprehensively illustrate the molecular mechanism of adverse effects of PM and its components, so as to clarify the causal mechanistic relationships of PM-triggered toxicity on various systems. The main conclusions and new insights of the correlation between public health and PM were discussed, especially at low concentrations, which points out the direction for further research in the future. With the deepening of the study on its toxicity mechanism, it was found that PM can still induce adverse health effects with low-dose exposure. And the recommended Air Quality Guideline level of PM2.5 was adjusted to 5 μg/m3 by World Health Organization, which meant that deeper and more complex mechanisms needed to be explored. Traditionally, oxidative stress, inflammation, autophagy and apoptosis were considered the main mechanisms of harmful effects of PM. However, recent studies have identified several emerging mechanisms involved in the toxicity of PM, including pyroptosis, ferroptosis and epigenetic modifications. This review summarized the comprehensive evidence on the health effects of PM and the chemical components of it, as well as the combined toxicity of PM with other air pollutants. Based on the AOP Wiki and the mechanisms of PM-induced toxicity at different levels, we first constructed the PM-related AOP frameworks on various systems. Graphical Abstract

Air pollution and human health: a phenome-wide association study

“…Overall, our study findings suggest that all organ systems may be adversely affected by exposure to air pollution. Adverse outcome pathways for effects of air pollution are well described for respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, neuronal, digestive and reproductive systems 43. Well-documented common mechanisms of action encompass oxidative stress, inflammation, autophagy and apoptosis with more recent evidence also including pyroptosis, ferroptosis and epigenetic modifications 43…”

Impact of Indoor Air Pollution in Pakistan—Causes and Management

“…The major indoor toxic gases involve the oxides of carbon (COx) (carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 )) [28], oxides of nitrogen (NOx) (nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 )) [29,30], oxides of sulfur (SOx) (sulfur dioxide (SO 2 )) [31], PM [32][33][34], radon [35,36], volatile organic matter (VOC) [37], carbonaceous aerosols/biological aerosols/microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) [38][39][40], and pesticides [41]. Common human health effects observed due to indoor pollutants comprise respiratory diseases, allergic diseases, lung cancer, nervous system malfunctioning, kidney cancer, and cardiovascular diseases [42]. The succeeding sections of this review cover various sources as well as pollutants in indoor environments in the rural/urban regions of Pakistan.…”

Air pollution drives macrophage senescence through a phagolysosome-15-lipoxygenase pathway

“…While uPM exposure is associated with immune dysfunction (Adami et al, 2022; Li et al, 2022; Ural et al, 2022), the molecular mechanisms driving such dysfunction are incompletely understood. Macrophages are highly phagocytic immune cells and are the primary cells responsible for responding to environmental exposures (Ross et al, 2021).…”