BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has claimed 349 lives with 5,327 probable cases reported in mainland China since November 2002. SARS case fatality has varied across geographical areas, which might be partially explained by air pollution level. METHODS Publicly accessible data on SARS morbidity and mortality were utilized in the data analysis. Air pollution was evaluated by...

The long-term impact of air pollution on human health can be estimated from small-area ecological studies in which the health outcome is regressed against air pollution concentrations and other covariates, such as socio-economic deprivation. Socio-economic deprivation is multi-factorial and difficult to measure, and includes aspects of income, education, and housing as well as others. However, ...

BACKGROUND Cross-sectional and ecological studies indicate that air pollution may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but prospective data are lacking. OBJECTIVE We examined the association between traffic-related air pollution and incident type 2 diabetes. DESIGN Between 1985 and 1994, cross-sectional surveys were performed in the highly industrialized Ruhr district (West Germany); a fol...

The city of Tehran undergoes an increasing growth in population as well as industrial activities, both of which increase the concentration of air pollutants. The current research tries to turn a limited and focused system of air contamination measurement and control to an unlimited and extensive one that examines the concentration of each of the contaminants in any area of Tehran. Accordingly, ...

BACKGROUND A critical review was conducted of the quantitative literature linking indoor air pollution from household use of biomass fuels with acute respiratory infections in young children, which is focused on, but not confined to, acute lower respiratory infection and pneumonia in children under two years in less developed countries. Biomass in the form of wood, crop residues, and animal dun...

OBJECTIVES Air pollution is a hazardous environmental problem with several adverse health effects including its impact on the development of chronic diseases as diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to investigate the association of geographical distribution of air quality index (AQI) and type 2 diabetes mellitus in an air-polluted city by using geographic information system (GIS). METHODS This...

The city of Tehran undergoes an increasing growth in population as well as industrial activities, both of which increase the concentration of air pollutants. The current research tries to turn a limited and focused system of air contamination measurement and control to an unlimited and extensive one that examines the concentration of each of the contaminants in any area of Tehran. Accordingly, ...

Well-documented air pollution episodes throughout recent history have led to deaths among individuals with cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Although the components of air pollution that cause the adverse health effects in these individuals are unknown, a small proportion by mass but a large proportion by number of the ambient air particles are ultrafine, i.e., less than 100 nm in diamete...