Particle Pollution

Ever look at dirty truck exhaust?

The dirty, smoky part of that stream of exhaust is made of particle pollution. Overwhelming evidence shows that particle pollution—like that coming from that exhaust smoke—can kill. Particle pollution can increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer and asthma attacks and can interfere with the growth and work of the lungs.

 

What Is Particle Pollution?

Particle pollution refers to a mix of very tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air we breathe. But nothing about particle pollution is simple. And it is so dangerous it can shorten your life.

Size matters. Particles themselves are different sizes. Some are one-tenth the diameter of a strand of hair. Many are even tinier; some are so small they can only be seen with an electron microscope. Because of their size, you can't see the individual particles. You can only see the haze that forms when millions of particles blur the spread of sunlight.

The differences in size make a big difference in how they affect us. Our natural defenses help us to cough or sneeze larger particles out of our bodies. But those defenses don't keep out smaller particles, those that are smaller than 10 microns (or micrometers) in diameter, or about one-seventh the diameter of a single human hair. These particles get trapped in the lungs, while the smallest are so minute that they can pass through the lungs into the blood stream, just like the essential oxygen molecules we need to survive. 

Researchers categorize particles according to size, grouping them as coarse, fine and ultrafine. Coarse particles fall between 2.5 microns and 10 microns in diameter and are called PM10-2.5. Fine particles are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller and are called PM2.5. Ultrafine particles are smaller than 0.1 micron in diameter1 and are small enough to pass through the lung tissue into the blood stream, circulating like the oxygen molecules themselves. No matter what the size, particles can harm your health.

"A mixture of mixtures." Because particles are formed in so many different ways, they can be composed of many different compounds. Although we often think of particles as solids, not all are. Some are completely liquid; some are solids suspended in liquids. As the EPA puts it, particles are really "a mixture of mixtures."2

The mixtures differ between the eastern and western United States and in different times of the year. For example, the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast states have more sulfate particles than the West on average, largely due to the high levels of sulfur dioxide emitted by large, coal-fired power plants. By contrast, nitrate particles from motor vehicle exhaust form a larger proportion of the unhealthful mix in the winter in the Northeast, Southern California, the Northwest, and North Central U.S.3

Who Is at Risk?

Anyone who lives where particle pollution levels are high is at risk. Some people face higher risk, however. People at the greatest risk from particle pollution exposure include:

  • Infants, children and teens4;
  • People over 65 years of age.5;
  • People with lung disease such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema;
  • People with heart disease6 or diabetes;7
  • People with low incomes.8; and
  • People who work or are active outdoors.9

Diabetics face increased risk at least in part because of their higher risk for cardiovascular disease.10 A 2010 study examined prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in relation to fine particle pollution in 2004-2005. The evidence suggested that air pollution is a risk factor for diabetes.11

What Can Particles Do to Your Health?

Particle pollution can be very dangerous to breathe. Breathing particle pollution may trigger illness, hospitalization and premature death, risks showing up in new studies that validate earlier research.

Thanks to steps taken to reduce particle pollution, good news is growing from researchers who study the drop in year-round levels of particle pollution.

  • Looking at air quality in 545 counties in the U.S. between 2000 and 2007, researchers found that people had approximately four months added to their life expectancy on average due to cleaner air. Women and people who lived in urban and densely populated counties benefited the most.12
  • Another long-term study of six U.S. cities tracked from 1974 to 2009 added more evidence of the benefits. Their findings suggest that cleaning up particle pollution had almost immediate health benefits. They estimated that the U.S. could prevent approximately 34,000 premature deaths a year if the nation could lower annual levels of particle pollution by 1 µg/m3.13

These studies adds to the growing research that cleaning up air pollution improves life and health.14 Other researchers estimated that reductions in air pollution can be expected to produce rapid improvements in public health, with fewer deaths occurring within the first two years after reductions.15

Researchers are exploring possible differences in health effects of the three sizes of particles and particles from different sources, such as diesel particles from trucks and buses or sulfates from coal-fired power plants. So far, the evidence remains clear that particles of all sizes from all sources can be dangerous.16

Short-Term Exposure Can Be Deadly

First and foremost, short-term exposure to particle pollution can kill. Peaks or spikes in particle pollution can last for hours to days. Deaths can occur on the very day that particle levels are high, or within one to two months afterward. Particle pollution does not just make people die a few days earlier than they might otherwise—these are deaths that would not have occurred if the air were cleaner.17

Particle pollution also diminishes lung function, causes greater use of asthma medications and increased rates of school absenteeism, emergency room visits and hospital admissions. Other adverse effects can be coughing, wheezing, cardiac arrhythmias and heart attacks. According to the findings from some of the latest studies, short-term increases in particle pollution have been linked to:

  • death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes, including strokes;18,19,20,21
  • increased mortality in infants and young children;22
  • increased numbers of heart attacks, especially among the elderly and in people with heart conditions;23
  • inflammation of lung tissue in young, healthy adults;24
  • increased hospitalization for cardiovascular disease, including strokes and congestive heart failure;25,26,27
  • increased emergency room visits for patients suffering from acute respiratory ailments;28
  • increased hospitalization for asthma among children;29,30,31 and
  • increased severity of asthma attacks in children.32

Again, the impact of even short-term exposure to particle pollution on healthy adults showed up in the Galveston lifeguard study, in addition to the harmful effects of ozone pollution. Lifeguards had reduced lung volume at the end of the day when fine particle levels were high.33

Year-Round Exposure Can Kill and May Cause Cancer

Breathing high levels of particle pollution day in and day out also can be deadly, as landmark studies in the 1990s conclusively showed.34 and other studies confirmed.35 Chronic exposure to particle pollution can shorten life by one to three years.36.

In late 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, concluded that particle pollution could cause lung cancer. The IARC reviewed the most recent research and reported that the risk of lung cancer increases as the particle levels rise.37

Year-round exposure to particle pollution has also been linked to:

  • increased hospitalization for asthma attacks for children living near roads with heavy truck or trailer traffic;.38,39
  • slowed lung function growth in children and teenagers;40,41
  • significant damage to the small airways of the lungs;42
  • increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease;43 and
  • increased risk of lower birth weight and infant mortality.44

Research into the health risks of 65,000 women over age 50 found that those who lived in areas with higher levels of particle pollution faced a much greater risk of dying from heart disease than had been previously estimated. Even women who lived within the same city faced differing risks depending on the annual levels of pollution in their neighborhood.45

EPA Concludes Fine Particle Pollution Poses Serious Health Threats

The EPA released their most recent review of the current research on particle pollution in December 2009.46 The EPA had engaged a panel of expert scientists, the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, to help them assess the evidence, in particular research published between 2002 and May 2009. The EPA concluded that particle pollution caused multiple, serious threats to health. Their findings are highlighted in the box below.

EPA Concludes Fine Particle Pollution Poses Serious Health Threats
  • Causes early death (both short-term and long-term exposure)
  • Causes cardiovascular harm (e.g. heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart failure)
  • Likely to cause respiratory harm (e.g. worsened asthma, worsened COPD, inflammation)
  • May cause cancer
  • May cause reproductive and developmental harm

—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter, December 2009. EPA 600/R-08/139F.

Where Does Particle Pollution Come From?

Particle pollution is produced through two separate processes—mechanical and chemical.

Mechanical processes break down bigger bits into smaller bits with the material remaining essentially the same, only becoming smaller. Mechanical processes primarily create coarse particles.47 Dust storms, construction and demolition, mining operations, and agriculture are among the activities that produce coarse particles. Tire, brake pad and road wear can also create coarse particles. Bacteria, pollen, mold, and plant and animal debris are also included as coarse particles.48

By contrast, chemical processes in the atmosphere create most of the tiniest fine and ultrafine particles. Combustion sources burn fuels and emit gases. These gases can vaporize and then condense to become a particle of the same chemical compound. Or, they can react with other gases or particles in the atmosphere to form a particle of a different chemical compound. Particles formed by this latter process come from the reaction of elemental carbon (soot), heavy metals, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds with water and other compounds in the atmosphere.49 Burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants, steel mills, smelters, diesel- and gasoline-powered motor vehicles (cars and trucks) and equipment generate a large part of the raw materials for fine particles. So does burning wood in residential fireplaces and wood stoves or burning agricultural fields or forests.

  1. U.S. EPA. Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter (Final Report). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-08/139F, 2009. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=216546 
  2. U.S. EPA. Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, October 2004. Available at http://cfpub2.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=87903.
  3. U.S. EPA, 2009.
  4. Mar TF, Larson TV, Stier RA, Claiborn C, Koenig JQ. An analysis of the association between respiratory symptoms in subjects with asthma and daily air pollution in Spokane, Washington. Inhal Toxicol, 2004; 16: 809-815; Peel JL; Tolbert PE; Klein M; Metzger KB, Flanders WD, Knox T; Mulholland JA, Ryan PB, Frumkin H. Ambient air pollution and respiratory emergency department visits. Epidemiology, 2005; 16: 164-174.
  5. Barnett AG, Williams GM, Schwartz J, Best TL, Neller AH, Petroeschevsky AL, Simpson RW. The effects of air pollution on hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease in elderly people in Australian and New Zealand cities. Environ Health Perspect, 2006; 114: 1018-1023.
  6. Peel JL, Metzger KB, Klein M, Flanders WD, Mulholland JA, Tolbert PE. Ambient air pollution and cardiovascular emergency department visits in potentially sensitive groups. Am J Epidemiol, 2007; 165: 625-633. Pope CA III, Dockery DW. Health Effects of Fine Particulate Air Pollution: Lines that Connect. J Air Waste Mange Assoc. 2006; 56:709-742.
  7. Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. Are Diabetics More Susceptible to the Health Effects of Airborne Particles? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001; 164: 831-833. National Research Council. Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: IV. Continuing Research Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2004.
  8. Ostro B, Broadwin R, Green S, Feng WY, Lipsett M. Fine particulate air pollution and mortality in nine California counties: results from CALFINE. Environ Health Perspect. 2006: 114: 29-33; Ostro B, Feng WY, Broadwin R, Malig B, Green S, Lipsett M. The Impact of Components of Fine Particulate Matter on Cardiovascular Mortality in Susceptible Subpopulations. Occup Environ Med. 2008; 65(11):750-6.
  9. U.S. EPA, 2009.
  10. Miller, 2007; O'Neill MS, Veves A, Zanobetti A, Sarnat JA, Gold DR, Economides PA, Horton ES, Schwartz J. Diabetes Enhances Vulnerability to Particulate Air Pollution-Associated Impairment in Vascular Reactivity and Endothelial Function. Circulation. 2005; 111:2913-2920;
  11. Pearson JF, Bachireddy C, Shyamprasad S, Goldfinre AB, Brownstein JS. Association Between Fine Particulate Matter and Diabetes Prevalence in the U.S. Diabetes Care. 2010; 10: 2196-2201
  12. Correia AW, Pope CA III, Dockery DW, Wang Y, Ezzati M, Domenici F. Effect of Air Pollution Control on Life Expectancy in the United States: An Analysis of 545 U.S. Counties for the Period from 2000 to 2007. Epidemiology. 2013; 24(1): 23-31.
  13. Lepeule J, Laden F, Docker D, Schwartz J. Chronic Exposure to Fine Particles and Mortality: An Extended Follow-up of the Harvard Six Cities Study from 1974 to 2009. Environ Health Perspect. 2012; 120:965-970.
  14. Pope CA III, Dockery DW. Health Effects of Fine Particulate Air Pollution: Lines that Connect. J Air Waste Mange Assoc. 2006; 56:709-742.
  15. Schwartz J, Coull B, Laden F, Ryan L. The Effect of Dose and Timing of Dose on the Association between Airborne Particles and Survival. Environ Health Perspect. 2008; 116:64-69.
  16. Pope and Dockery, 2006.
  17. Zanobetti A, Schwartz J, Samoli E, Gryparis A, Tuoloumi G, Peacock J, Anderson RH, Le Tertre A, Bobros J, Celko M, Goren A, Forsberg B, Michelozzi P, Rabczenko D, Perez Hoyos S, Wichmann HE, Katsouyanni K. The Temporal Pattern of Respiratory and Heart Disease Mortality in Response to Air Pollution. Environ Health Perspect. 2003; 111:1188-1193; Dominici F, McDermott A, Zeger SL, Samet JM. Airborne Particulate Matter and Mortality: Timescale Effects in Four US Cities. Am J Epidemiol. 2003; 157:1055-1065.
  18. Dominici F, McDermott A, Zeger SL, Samet JM. On the Use of Generalized Additive Models in Time-Series Studies of Air Pollution and Health. Am J Epidemiol. 2002; 156:193-203.
  19. Hong Y-C, Lee J-T, Kim H, Ha E-H, Schwartz J, Christiani DC. Effects of Air Pollutants on Acute Stroke Mortality. Environ Health Perspect. 2002; 110:187-191.
  20. Tsai SS, Goggins WB, Chiu HF, Yang CY. Evidence for an Association Between Air Pollution and Daily Stroke Admissions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Stroke. 2003; 34: 2612-6.
  21. Wellenius GA, Schwartz J, Mittleman MA. Air Pollution and Hospital Admissions for Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke Among Medicare Beneficiaries. Stroke. 2005; 36:2549-2553.
  22. Pope and Dockery, 2006.
  23. D'Ippoliti D, Forastiere F, Ancona C, Agabity N, Fusco D, Michelozzi P, Perucci CA. Air Pollution and Myocardial Infarction in Rome: a case-crossover analysis. Epidemiology. 2003;14:528-535. Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. The Effect of Particulate Air Pollution on Emergency Admissions for Myocardial Infarction: a multicity case-crossover analysis. Environ Health Perspect. 2005; 113:978-982.
  24. Ghio AJ, Kim C, Devlin RB. Concentrated Ambient Air Particles Induce Mild Pulmonary Inflammation in Healthy Human Volunteers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2000; 162(3 Pt 1):981-988.
  25. Metzger KB, Tolbert PE, Klein M, Peel JL, Flanders WD, Todd K, Mulholland JA, Ryan PB, Frumkin H. Ambient Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Emergency Department Visits in Atlanta, Georgia, 1993-2000. Epidemiology. 2004; 15: 46-56.
  26. Tsai, et al., 2003.
  27. Wellenius GA, Schwartz J, and Mittleman MA. Particulate Air Pollution and Hospital Admissions for Congestive Heart Failure in Seven United States Cities. Am J Cardiol. 2006; 97 (3):404-408; Wellenius GA, Bateson TF, Mittleman MA, Schwartz J. Particulate Air Pollution and the Rate of Hospitalization for Congestive Heart Failure among Medicare Beneficiaries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Am J Epidem. 2005; 161:1030-1036.
  28. Van Den Eeden SK, Quesenberry CP Jr, Shan J, Lurmann F. Particulate Air Pollution and Morbidity in the California Central Valley: a high particulate pollution region. Final Report to the California Air Resources Board, 2002.
  29. Lin M, Chen Y, Burnett RT, Villeneuve PJ, Kerwski D. The Influence of Ambient Coarse Particulate Matter on Asthma Hospitalization in Children: case-crossover and time-series analyses. Environ Health Perspect. 2002; 110:575-581.
  30. Norris G, YoungPong SN, Koenig JQ, Larson TV, Sheppard L, Stout JW. An Association Between Fine Particles and Asthma Emergency Department Visits for Children in Seattle. Environ Health Perspect. 1999;107:489-493.
  31. Tolbert PE, Mulholland JA, MacIntosh DD, Xu F, Daniels D, Devine OJ, Carlin BP, Klein M, Dorley J, Butler AJ, Nordenberg DF, Frumkin H, Ryan PB, White MC. Air Quality and Pediatric Emergency Room Visits for Asthma in Atlanta, Georgia. Am J Epidemiol. 2000; 151:798-810.
  32. Slaughter JC, Lumley T, Sheppard L, Koenig JQ, Shapiro, GG. Effects of Ambient Air Pollution on Symptom Severity and Medication Use in Children with Asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2003; 91:346-353.
  33. Thaller et. al, 2008. 
  34. Dockery DW, Pope CA III, Xu X, Spengler JD, Ware JH, Fay ME, Ferris BG, Speizer FE. An Association Between Air Pollution and Mortality in Six U.S. Cities. N Engl J Med. 1993; 329:1753-1759. Pope CA, Thun MJ, Namboodiri MM, Dockery DW, Evans JS, Speizer FE, Heath CW. Particulate Air Pollution as a Predictor of Mortality in a Prospective Study of U.S. Adults. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995; 151:669-674.
  35. Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. The effect of fine and coarse particulate air pollution on mortality: A national analysis. Environ Health Perspect. 2009; 117:1-40 2009; Krewski D; Jerrett M; Burnett RT; Ma R; Hughes E; Shi Y; Turner MC; Pope AC III; Thurston G; Calle EE; Thun MJ. Extended follow-up and spatial analysis of the American Cancer Society study linking particulate air pollution and mortality. Report Nr. 140 (Cambridge, MA: Health Effects Institute, 2009); Franklin M, Zeka A, Schwartz J. Association between PM2.5 and all-cause and specific cause mortality in 27 U.S. communities. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2007; 18: 1005-1011. 2007 Lepeule et al, 2012; Pope CA III, Burnett RT, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Ito K, Thurston GD. Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality, and Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution. JAMA. 2002; 287(9):1132-1141.
  36. Pope CA III. Epidemiology of Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Human Health: biological mechanisms and who's at risk? Environ Health Perspect. 2000;108: 713-723.
  37. World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monograph on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 109, Outdoor Air Pollution. Lyon: IARC (in Press).
  38. Lin S, Munsie JP, Hwang SA, Fitzgerald E, Cayo MR. Childhood Asthma Hospitalization and Residential Exposure to State Route Traffic. Environ Res. 2002; 88:73-81.
  39. Gauderman WJ, Vora H, McConnell R, Berhane K, Gilliland GF, Thomas D, Lurmann F, Avol E, Küenzli N, Jarrett M, Peters J. Effect of Exposure to Traffic on Lung Development from 10 to 18 Years of Age: a cohort study. Lancet. 2007; 369:571-577.
  40. Gauderman WJ, Avol E, Gilliland F, Vora H, Thomas D, Berhane K, McConnell R, Kuenzli N, Lurmann F, Rappaport E, Margolis H, Bates D, Peters J. The effect of air pollution on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age. N Engl J Med. 2004; 351:1057-1067.
  41. Gauderman WJ, Avol E, Gilliland F, Vora H, Thomas D, Berhane K, McConnell R, Kuenzli N, Lurmann F, Rappaport E, Margolis H, Bates D, Peters J. The effect of air pollution on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age. N Engl J Med. 2004; 351:1057-1067.
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  43. Pope CA III, Burnett RT, Thurston GD, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Godleski JJ. Cardiovascular Mortality and Year-round Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution: epidemiological evidence of general pathophysiological pathways of disease. Circulation. 2004; 109:71-77.
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  45. Miller KA, Siscovick DS, Shepard L, Shepherd K, Sullivan JH, Anderson GL, Kaufman JD. Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events in Women. N Engl J Med. 2007; 356: 447-458.
  46. U.S. EPA, 2009.
  47. U.S. EPA, 2009.
  48. U.S. EPA, 2009.
  49. U.S. EPA, 2009.
Did You Know?

Did You Know?You can protect your family by checking the air quality forecasts in your community and avoiding exercising or working outdoors when the unhealthy air is expected.

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