Climate change, air quality, and respiratory health: a focus on particle deposition in the lungs

Abstract

This review article delves into the multifaceted relationship between climate change, air quality, and respiratory health, placing a special focus on the process of particle deposition in the lungs. We discuss the capability of climate change to intensify air pollution and alter particulate matter physicochemical properties such as size, dispersion, and chemical composition. These alterations play a significant role in influencing the deposition of particles in the lungs, leading to consequential respiratory health effects. The review paper provides a broad exploration of climate change’s direct and indirect role in modifying particulate air pollution features and its interaction with other air pollutants, which may change the ability of particle deposition in the lungs. In conclusion, climate change may play an important role in regulating particle deposition in the lungs by changing physicochemistry of particulate air pollution, therefore, increasing the risk of respiratory disease development.

Contemporary Concise Review 2023: Environmental and occupational lung diseases

“…The respiratory system is vulnerable to the external environment, as it is constantly exposed to various air pollutants, including particles, chemicals, organic substances and gaseous materials in environmental settings 1 . Classical air pollutants include particulate matter (PM), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are major components of PM, particularly PM 2.5 and are well known to be associated with respiratory diseases 2 . PM arises from natural sources, anthropogenic activities such as transportation and industry in ambient air pollution, solid fuel combustion and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in household air pollution, and recent wildfires.…”

“…1 Classical air pollutants include particulate matter (PM), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are major components of PM, particularly PM 2.5 and are well known to be associated with respiratory diseases. 2 PM arises from natural sources, anthropogenic activities such as transportation and industry in ambient air pollution, solid fuel combustion and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in household air pollution, and recent wildfires. PM is a heterogeneous mixture of solid and liquid particles of varying sizes.…”

The Ecological Study on Decadal Trends and Impacts of Ambient Air Pollutants on COPD and Lung Cancer in Upper Northern Thailand: 2013-2022

“…Exposure to ambient air pollutants such as PM, ozone (O 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) contributes to various adverse health effects, particularly in the respiratory system (Mabahwi, Leh, & Omar, 2014). Previous epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to PM and other gaseous pollutants increases the risk and mortality of respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (Areal, Zhao, Wigmann, Schneider, & Schikowski, 2022; Chang et al, 2023;Mabahwi et al, 2014). Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the trends and associations between air pollutant levels and respiratory diseases, including the mortality rate of lung cancer and COPD, as well as the COPD re-admission rate during 2013-2022 in eight provinces of upper northern Thailand between the haze and non-haze seasons.…”

Decadal Trends in Ambient Air Pollutants and Their Association with COPD and Lung Cancer in Upper Northern Thailand: 2013–2022

“…Exposure to ambient air pollutants such as PM, ozone (O 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) contributes to various adverse health effects, particularly in the respiratory system [9]. Previous epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to PM and other gaseous pollutants increases the risk and fatality of respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer [9][10][11]. Air pollution contributes to the development of COPD by inducing inflammation of the airway and lung parenchyma through inflammatory cells (lymphocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages) and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8), oxidative stress, and DNA damage [12,13].…”