Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun;11(2):89-101.
doi: 10.1007/s40572-024-00433-y. Epub 2024 Feb 7.

Challenges of Air Pollution and Health in East Asia

Xihao Du  1 , Renjie Chen  2 , Haidong Kan  3   4
Affiliations

Challenges of Air Pollution and Health in East Asia

Xihao Du et al. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Air pollution has been a serious environmental and public health issue worldwide, particularly in Asian countries. There have been significant increases in epidemiological studies on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone pollution in East Asia, and an in-depth review of epidemiological evidence is urgent. Thus, we carried out a systematic review of the epidemiological research on PM2.5 and ozone pollution in East Asia released in recent years.

Recent findings: Recent studies have indicated that PM2.5 and ozone are the most detrimental air pollutants to human health, resulting in substantial disease burdens for Asian populations. Many epidemiological studies of PM2.5 and ozone have been mainly performed in three East Asian countries (China, Japan, and South Korea). We derived the following summary findings: (1) both short-term and long-term exposure to PM2.5 and ozone could raise the risks of mortality and morbidity, emphasizing the need for continuing improvements in air quality in East Asia; (2) the long-term associations between PM2.5 and mortality in East Asia are comparable to those observed in Europe and North America, whereas the short-term associations are relatively smaller in magnitude; and (3) further cohort and intervention studies are required to yield robust and precise evidence that can promote evidence-based policymaking in East Asia. This updated review presented an outline of the health impacts of PM2.5 and ozone in East Asia, which may be beneficial for the development of future regulatory policies and standards, as well as for designing subsequent investigations.

Keywords: Air pollution; East Asia; Health; Long-term effect; Shot-term effect.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance
    1. Rudd KE, Johnson SC, Agesa KM, Shackelford KA, Tsoi D, et al. Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2017: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet. 2020;395(10219):200–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32989-7 . - DOI
    1. Murray CJ, Aravkin AY, Zheng P, Abbafati C, Abbas KM, et al. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1223–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30752-2 . Well-researched and comprehensive documentation of air pollution on the global health.
    1. Kan H, Li T, Zhang Z. Air pollution and cardiovascular heath in a changing climate. Cardiology Plus. 2023;8(2):69–71. https://doi.org/10.1097/CP9.0000000000000051 . - DOI
    1. WHO. WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. 2021. Available: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240034228 . Accessed 22 Sept 2023. Insight into the air quality guidelines.
    1. Baumgartner J, Brauer M, Ezzati M. The role of cities in reducing the cardiovascular impacts of environmental pollution in low- and middle-income countries. BMC Med. 2020;18(1):39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-1499-y . - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources