Airborne Fine Particulates in the Environment: A Review of Health Effect Studies, Monitoring Data and Emission Inventories

Airborne fine particles are a mixture of various components and are emitted different sources. Short-term and long-term epidemiological studies have associated fine particles with adverse health effects, excess mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. There are indications that the health effects are more associated with the fine fraction of PM10 and with ultrafine particles ( The spatial and temporal distribution of fine particle levels may vary substantially. Low PM10 levels are found in remote areas at about 10 ug m-3 , heavily polluted urban areas may reach 100 ug m-3 on average. PM2.5 ( In urban areas, traffic is usually an important source of fine particles, although locally the situation can be dominated by emissions from local industries. For remote areas where local sources are absent, regional and transboundary sources may be prevalent. We hypothesize that vehicular emissions and particularly diesel exhaust are likely to be important, if not the major, factors for the adverse health effects associated with fine particles.