Effects of Exposure to Air Pollution on Respiratory Health II

Dear Colleagues,

The air we breathe has important consequences on our health and development. The respiratory system is a primary target of air pollution-mediated health effects. Ambient air pollution is an established cause of morbidity and mortality—like tobacco smoke. Even more than passive smoking, air pollution is not a lifestyle choice, but ubiquitous involuntary environmental exposure, which can affect the entire population, from womb to death. The enormous burden of disease due to air pollution is increasingly being considered by governments and institutions around the globe as a major public health concern. Respirable particulate matter (PM) has been regarded as a “criteria air pollutant”, along with carbon monoxide, ground level ozone, fine- and ultra-fine particulate matters, diesel/biodiesel particles, metal particles (lead, palladium, etc.), nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. Globally, >8 million premature deaths are related to outdoor and indoor air-pollution. Low- and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) bear the maximum brunt of air pollution-related adverse health effects. The source of air pollution in LMICs is two pronged—outdoor and indoor air pollution. Rapid urbanization and industrialization, on the one hand (urban), with a lack of clean energy sources, leading to the use of biomass fuel for cooking and heating purposes (rural), happens simultaneously. A substantial body of epidemiological evidence indicates the association of chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to ambient PM exposure. It is estimated that approximately 50% of COPD cases, the fourth leading cause of death globally, can be attributed to non-tobacco-related causes. It is plausible that the mechanism of air pollution-related COPD may be different from tobacco-smoke-mediated COPD. Thus, environmental and occupational causes COPD warrant more attention. Although several works of epidemiological evidence showing the association between exposure to air pollutants and various respiratory impairments do exist. However, details of the molecular mechanism leading to the onset of chronic respiratory (e.g., COPD) diseases remain unclear or under explored.

Therefore, in this Special Issue of Toxics will cover the most recent research on air pollution related respiratory diseases, namely:

• Respiratory toxicity following exposure to air pollutants.
• Outdoor and indoor air quality monitoring: special focus on LMIC.
• Gender perspective air pollution (indoor and outdoor) mediated respiratory adverse outcome pathways.
• Acute and repeated exposure to ambient gaseous and particulate matters using advanced/physiologically-relevant in vitro models.
• Air pollutant and molecular pathogenesis for COPD onset: in vivo to human study.
• Impact of air pollution on the lung microbiome.

Dr. Swapna Upadhyay
Guest Editor

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