• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.4
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• pp.313-319
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• 2022

Environmental exposure to air pollution is known to have adverse effects on various organs. Air pollution has greater effects on the pulmonary system as the lungs are directly exposed to contaminants in the air. Here, we review the associations of air pollution with the development, morbidity, and mortality of pulmonary diseases. Short-and long-term exposure to air pollution have been shown to increase mortality risk even at concentrations below the current national guidelines. Ambient air pollution has been shown to be associated with lung cancer. Particularly long-term exposure to particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 ㎛ (PM_2.5) has been reported to be associated with lung cancer even at low concentrations. In addition, exposure to air pollution has been shown to increase the incidence risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has been correlated with exacerbation and mortality of COPD. Air pollution has also been linked to exacerbation, mortality, and development of asthma. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) has been demonstrated to be related to increased mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Additionally, air pollution increases the incidence of infectious diseases, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and tuberculosis. Furthermore, emerging evidence supports a link between air pollution and coronavirus disease 2019 transmission, susceptibility, severity and mortality. In conclusion, the stringency of air quality guidelines should be increased and further therapeutic trials are required in patients at high risk of adverse health effects of air pollution.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.267-275
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• 2007

In this study, relationship between the air pollution of Siheung city and the relative contribution of automobiles to the city's pollution was evaluated for the first time. Then, new air pollution exposure index was developed through simulation. Using the newly developed index, two different urban development scenarios were compared to present a sustainable urban development plan to reduce air pollution from the land utilization point of view. According to the result of this simulation, air quality of the city was found to be affected significantly by human activities. More populated area showed worse level of air quality. Any development in the city resulted in more automobile activity and deterioration of air quality. This simulation result thus explains that a rapid increase of automobiles accompanied by the land development near local roadsides in the city is the major cause of air pollution in Siheung city. In this study, if urban activities are vigorous in an area with high air pollution, people are more likely to be exposed to air pollutant under the bad environmental conditions. On the other hand, if urban activities are less vigorous in an area with high pollution or if urban activities are vigorous in an area with less pollution, the environmental condition was positive. The APEI (Air Pollution Exposure Index) was developed based on these considerations. Scenarios 1 and 2 were compared and analyzed using APEI. In result, scenario 1 is the case in which land is developed and used in an environmentally favorable manner. From this study, it was proved that the impact of air pollution on human health can be minimized with proper land use. The result form the current study can be used as the basic information to solve problems from improper land utilization and air pollution (by road traffic). It also can be utilized to evaluate air pollution level according to land use and road characteristics and to help to choose the best location of land use to comply with the road function and status.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2021

There is a growing body of literature on the adverse health effects of ambient air pollution. Children are more adversely affected by air pollution due to their biological susceptibility and exposure patterns. This review summarized the accumulated epidemiologic evidence with emphasis on studies conducted in Korea and heterogeneity in the literature. Based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, there is consistent evidence on the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and children's health, especially respiratory health and adverse birth outcomes, and growing evidence on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Despite these existing studies, the mechanism of the adverse health effects of air pollution and the critical window of susceptibility remain unclear. There is also a need to identify causes of heterogeneity between studies in terms of measurement of exposure/outcome, study design, and the differential characteristics of air pollutants and population.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.109-123
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• 2012

Our study investigated the effects of Solanum macrocarpon (African eggplant) on haematological and biochemical parameters of male albino rats exposed to urban air pollution ($O_3$, $PM_{10}$, CO, $SO_2$, $NO_2$ and VOC). Male albino Wistar rats were exposed for 63 days either to urban air pollution without treatment (A); oral supplementation with Solanum macrocarpon given at 36 and 75 mg/kg body weight (BW), representing C and D respectively and exposed to air pollution; oral supplementation with Solanum macrocarpon given at 75 mg/kg BW after exposure to air pollution (B); or kept in animal house without exposure to air pollution (E). Animals exposed to air pollution showed significant alterations in haematological and biochemical parameters signaling that the blood and organs were badly injured. There were significant elevations in white blood cells (WBC) and its indices, reduction in red blood cells (RBC) and significant depletions of non-enzymic antioxidants, total protein and increase in lipid peroxidation values. Solanum macrocarpon supplementation in the feed of animals halted significantly the deleterious effects of air pollution, with co-administration during exposure given better results.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2013

The assessment of personal exposure is a critical component in population-based epidemiologic studies of air pollution. This study was conducted to apply and compare the four exposure estimation methods of individual-level to air pollution concentration in a cohort including 2,283 subjects in Gwangyang, Korea. Individual-level exposure of air pollution were estimated using multiple approaches, including average across all monitors, nearest monitor, and spatial interpolation by inverse distance weighting and kriging. The mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, CO, $O_3$ by four exposure estimation methods were slightly different but not significantly different from each other. Cross-validation showed that kriging was more accurate than other exposure estimation methods because kriging has probably predicted individual exposure levels equivalent to residential locations after estimating the parameters of a model according to the spatial surface of air pollution concentration. These data support that spatial interpolation methods may provide better estimates than selecting the value from the nearest monitor and averaging across values from all monitors by reflecting spatial attributes of air pollution on personal level.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2001

Air pollution epidemiologic studies are intrinsically difficult because the expected effect size at general environmental levels is small, exposure and misclassification of exposure are common, and exposure is not selective to a specific pollutant. In this review paper, epidemiologic study designs and analytic methods are described, and two nationwide projects on air pollution epidemiology are introduced. This paper also demonstrates that possible confounding issues in time-series analysis can be resolved and the impact on the use of data from ambient monitoring stations may not be critical. In this paper we provide a basic understanding of the types of air pollution epidemiologic study designs that be subdivided by the mode of air pollution effects on human health (acute or chronic). With the improvements in the area of air pollution epidemiologic studies, we should emphasize that elaborate models and statistical techniques cannot compensate for inadequate study design or poor data collection.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.30-35
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• 1989

To effectively develop and evaluate air pollution control measures, health risk rates due to air pollution must be identified. This article describes the application of a visual analysis and an air pollution-health risk model for determining the impacts of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure on angina pectoris patients in a metropolitan area. The procedures used for analyzing the relationship between CO exposure and the related increase in angina angina attacks for stable angina pectoris patients are described through a case study in the city of Seoul, Korea and the findings show that air-pollution-health risk model and visual analysis can be effective tools for environmental decision-makers, allowing air pollution control scenarios to be developed and evaluated for environmental protection. One of the features of this study is to provide a methodology for translating clinical findings into estimates of the relative contributions of air pollution to all causes of a particular disease. Therefore, there must be appropriate recognition of the uncertainties involved in the study.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.291-299
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• 2004

As there have been growing concerns about the adverse effects of air pollution on birth outcome, studies for this area has been carried out in different populations and sites. We reviewed the epidemiologic studies that evaluated the effects of air pollution on birth outcome such as low birth weight and preterm births. We identified the air pollution exposure during pregnancy was related with low birth weight and preterm birth, although there are differences among studies for the critical period of vulnerability. The biological mechanisms whereby air pollution might influence health of fetus are not clearly established. The exposure to carbon monoxide(CO) during pregnancy could increase fetal carboxyhemoglobin and result in tissue hypoxia. On the other hand, ambient particles less than $10{\mu}m$ in aerodynamic diameter($PM_{10}$) could lead to inflammation and increase blood viscosity. Controlling for potential confounders and valid assessment of exposure are the methodological issues remained in these epidemiologic studies. In the future, more studies are needed to investigate the effect of air pollution on preterm birth or stillbirths, considering the various exposure period and the biological mechanism.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.465-472
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• 2005

Objectives : The aim of this study was to assess the effect of air pollution on the daily respiratory symptoms of elementary school children in Seoul. Methods : Using the panel study design, we collected diary data for the children's respiratory symptoms during the 1st day$\sim$15th day of April, July, October and December in 2003 among the 2nd and 3rd grade elementary school students. We merged the respiratory symptom data with the ambient air pollution data that was monitored by Ministry of Environment. Using a generalized estimate equation, we evaluated the relationship between the daily symptoms of the subjects and the exposure to ai r pollution after controlling for various potential confounders. Results : The nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure of the current day significantly increased the upper respiratory symptoms (adjusted odds ratio=1.12, 95% CI=1.01-1.24) and the lower respiratory symptoms (adjusted odds ratio=1.18, 95% CI=1.06-1.31) in the elementary school children. The sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in the current day was associated with the lower respiratory symptoms (adjusted odds ratio=1.12, 95% CI=1.01-1.25 for SO2; adjusted odds ratio=1.16, 95% CI=1.02-1.32 for CO). Conclusions : We found that exposure to air pollution affects the daily respiratory symptoms in children. This study suggests that the effect on children's health? due to the short term changes in air pollution levels needs to be considered as an important public health problem.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2004

In order to evaluate a health effect of air pollution, we designed exposure group (taxi driver, street sweeper, street trader,) and non -exposure group (office clerk). We analysed exposure and biologic marker by using personal sampler. Mean NO$_2$ and benzene level in each group were statistically significant. Also, respiratory symptom, chronic cough, sputum, and dyspnea on exertion were statistically significant in each group.