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Associations between Fine Particulate Matter Composition and Sources with Adverse Health Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Year: 2023
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: Associations between fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) exposure and health outcomes are well established. Constituents and sources of PM₂.₅ that are driving the PM₂.₅-health associations remain unclear. METHOD: We performed a systematic literature review of an array of health outcomes (mortality, morbidity, birth outcomes) associated with exposure to fine particulate matter constituents and sources. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for English-language publications using relevant keywords. After screening and assessing the risk of bias for each study, we performed meta-analyses for each health endpoint and constituent/sources combination if the number of studies was at least three. RESULTS: We grouped studies according to health endpoints (e.g., cardiovascular and respiratory diseases) and exposure length (short-term and long-term). We found that elemental carbon, organic carbon, and sulfates were most consistently associated with health endpoints. The findings indicate that fossil fuel combustion, such as diesel-fueled vehicles and traffic (elemental carbon, organic carbon), as well as coal combustion (sulfates) are particularly associated with adverse human health impacts. CONCLUSIONS: While more studies of PM₂.₅ constituents and source components are still needed, the available results of both the short- and long-term exposure studies are consistent with the conclusion that PM₂.₅ mass derived from fossil fuel combustion, such as traffic-related and coal combustion pollution, is of particular concern for public health. Our findings indicate a need for clean air and climate action policies to focus on limiting PM₂.₅ pollution from fossil fuel combustion sources to maximize the health benefits of those mitigation efforts.
DOI: 10.1289/isee.2023.fp-103
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4390965566
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