The authors studied the association between incidence of primary cardiac arrest and daily measures of fine particulate matter (</=2.5 micro m) using a case-crossover study of 1,206 Washington State out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (1985-1994) among persons with (n = 774) and without (n = 432) clinically recognized heart disease. The authors compared particulate matter levels on the day of the ca...

Most parts of the urban areas are faced with the problem of floating fine particulate matter. Therefore, it is crucial to estimate the amounts of fine particulate matter concentrations through the urban atmosphere. In this research, an artificial neural network technique was utilized to model the PM2.5 dispersion in Tehran City. Factors which are influencing the predicted value consi...

The hypothesis of hormesis - that substances that harm health at high exposures can reduce risks below background at low exposures, e.g., if they activate defenses without overwhelming them - becomes important for practical policy making if it holds for regulated substances. Recently, the U.S. EPA concluded that reductions in ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in air caus...

More than a decade ago, prospective epidemiologic studies showed that mortality was increased among people living in communities with elevated concentrations of fine particulate air pollution.1,2 Subsequent research has shown that particulate air pollution is statistically and mechanistically linked to increased cardiovascular disease.3 New data are beginning to shed light on which persons are ...

Particulate matter (PM) has been found to damage vital body organs, including the lungs and heart, through vascular damage and oxidative stress. Recently, renal function and chronic urologic diseases have also been found to be related to PM. To investigate this, we reviewed the characteristics of PM related to renal toxicity, including recent studies on the associations of urologic diseases wit...