Outdoor air pollution and cancer: An overview of the current evidence and public health recommendations

Unhealthy levels of air pollution are breathed by billions of people worldwide, and air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death and disability globally. Efforts to reduce air pollution at its many sources have had limited success, and in many areas of the world, poor air quality continues to worsen. Personal interventions to reduce exposure to air pollution include avoiding sources, staying indoors, filtering indoor air, using face masks, and limiting physical activity when and where air pollution levels are elevated. The effectiveness of these interventions varies widely with circumstances and conditions of use. Compared with upstream reduction or control of emissions, personal interventions place burdens and risk of adverse unintended consequences on individuals. We review evidence regarding the balance of benefits and potential harms of personal interventions for reducing exposure to outdoor air pollution, which merit careful consideration before making public health recommendations with regard to who should use personal interventions and where, when, and how they should be used. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Različni patofiziološki učinki onesnaževal v zunanjem zraku na telesna tkiva

Slovenian Medical Journal ◽

10.6016/zdravvestn.2477 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 87 (3-4) ◽

Author(s):

Simona Perčič ◽

Peter Otorepec ◽

Andreja Kukec

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Literature Review ◽

Intervention Strategies ◽

The Body ◽

Health Concern ◽

Outdoor Air ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Pathophysiological Mechanisms ◽

Outdoor Air Pollution

Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution is a serious and common public health concern associated with growing morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are many published studies about the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in response of the body tissues to outdoor air pollution exposure. The aim of our review was to investigate the problem of outdoor air pollution and health effects of pathological mechanisms, with specific goal to point out public health intervention strategies based upon a clearer understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of outdoor air pollution. A systematic literature review was carried out in two bibliographic databases, Science Direct and PubMed, in the period from January 1995 to December 2015. We conducted a systematic analysis of 95 studies, 43 of them being review studies and 52 original studies. The systematic analysis was done in three steps, for each body tissue separately (respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neurologic diseases and diabetes mellitus). This insight into literature review may help foster more effective preventive measures at the public health level as well as potential intervention strategies based upon a clearer understanding of the involved pathways.

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