Priorities in Environmental Health Risks Related to Air Pollution Throughout Europe

Health impact assessment of air pollution: providing further evidence for public health action

“…Most of the scientific evidence available to date concerns PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter ofv10 and v2.5 mm, respectively), although the role of finer particles is of increasing interest. This evidence has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to include air pollution and its health effects in its agenda [10][11][12].Although the biological mechanism of action is not yet fully understood, the association between PM and health is generally regarded as causal [13], and a nonthreshold concentrationresponse relationship with, for example, mortality and hospital admission has been observed in several settings. Cohort studies conducted in the USA found increase in total and cardio-respiratory mortality in populations of cities with higher long-term mean PM10 concentrations [14][15][16].…”

“…Most of the scientific evidence available to date concerns PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter ofv10 and v2.5 mm, respectively), although the role of finer particles is of increasing interest. This evidence has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to include air pollution and its health effects in its agenda [10][11][12].…”