SignificanceExposure to outdoor concentrations of fine particulate matter is considered a leading global health concern, largely based on estimates of excess deaths using information integrating exposure and risk from several particle sources (outdoor and indoor air pollution and passive/active smoking). Such integration requires strong assumptions about equal toxicity per total inhaled dose. We relax these assumptions to build risk models examining exposure and risk information restricted to cohort studies of outdoor air pollution, now covering much of the global concentration range. Our estimates are severalfold larger than previous calculations, suggesting that outdoor particulate air pollution is an even more important population health risk factor than previously thought.

Background: Current air quality standards for particulate matter (PM) use the PM mass concentration [PM with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 μm (PM10) or ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5)] as a metric. It has been suggested that particles from combustion sources are more relevant to human health than are particles from other sources, but the impact of policies directed at reducing PM from combustion processes is usually relatively small when effects are estimated for a reduction in the total mass concentration.Objectives: We evaluated the value of black carbon particles (BCP) as an additional indicator in air quality management.Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of health effects of BCP compared with PM mass based on data from time-series studies and cohort studies that measured both exposures. We compared the potential health benefits of a hypothetical traffic abatement measure, using near-roadway concentration increments of BCP and PM2.5 based on data from prior studies.Results: Estimated health effects of a 1-μg/m3 increase in exposure were greater for BCP than for PM10 or PM2.5, but estimated effects of an interquartile range increase were similar. Two-pollutant models in time-series studies suggested that the effect of BCP was more robust than the effect of PM mass. The estimated increase in life expectancy associated with a hypothetical traffic abatement measure was four to nine times higher when expressed in BCP compared with an equivalent change in PM2.5 mass.Conclusion: BCP is a valuable additional air quality indicator to evaluate the health risks of air quality dominated by primary combustion particles.

The contribution of motorized traffic to air pollution is widely recognized, but relatively few studies have looked at the respiratory health status of subjects living near busy roads. We studied children in six areas located near major motorways in the Netherlands. We measured lung function in the children, and we assessed their exposure to traffic-related air pollution using separate traffic counts for automobiles and trucks. We also measured air pollution in the children's schools. Lung function was associated with truck traffic density but had a lesser association with automobile traffic density. The association was stronger in children living closest (< 300 m) to the motorways. Lung function was also associated with the concentration of black smoke, measured inside the schools, as a proxy for diesel exhaust particles. The associations were stronger in girls than in boys. The results indicate that exposure to traffic-related air pollution, in particular diesel exhaust particles, may lead to reduced lung function in children living near major motorways.

Background CHARGE syndrome is a highly variable, multiple congenital anomaly