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Particulate matter exposure assessment therefore needs to reflect the roles of these parameters, as well as chemistry and particle size and shape, relative to the broad range of adverse health problems that particulate matter creates. For both respiratory and circulatory illnesses, the most convincing correlations appear to be with particulate matter surface areas, and, in many instances, a parameter called lung deposited surface area, or LDSA. Measurement of ultrafine particulate matter, either as a component of PM2.5 or as particulate matter that exists as the only component of PM2.5, is more difficult because of the small size of the particles. Recently, Airviz Inc. has embarked upon a pioneering research effort to use simple and well-known optical techniques to measure ultrafine particle surface and mass concentrations that can result in small and inexpensive devices that will usher in a new era of particulate measurement capability currently unavailable to the general populace.

This condition is found to be increasing globally with increased numbers of emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to exacerbations of the condition brought on by exposures to irritating gases and particulate matter. For instance, persons living in areas that have higher than average pollution levels tend to be affected more readily than persons living in lower pollution areas. Using inexpensive pollutant monitors in homes can alert persons to perform simple actions, like closing windows, increasing ventilation, turning on air cleaners, or even replacing furnace and AC filters that can reduce pollutant level and decrease exposures that could have led to exacerbations and the subsequent consequences. One of the more comprehensive COPD health care systems is operated by National Jewish Health located in Denver, CO, , and locally in the Pittsburgh, PA area UPMC maintains a Center for COPD and Emphysema, , and Allegheny Health Network (AHN) has recently established a Breathing Disorders Center, Additionally, links to some current and relevant research on this problem can be found below, as well as a link to a peer review journal dedicated to COPD….

We often hear warnings about ozone action days or warnings for susceptible segments of the population to stay indoors if the air quality exceeds certain levels. So, what does it mean to be “susceptible”, or “at-risk population” or “sensitive population? In a review article entitled “Particulate Matter – Induced Health Effects: Who is susceptible? researchers at the National Center for Environmental Assessment at the EPA located in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina examined the epidemiological data acquired over the past two decades in an effort to explain and quantify susceptible populations.

On the average, people living in developed countries spend roughly 90% of their time indoors, either in their homes or at their indoor places of work. We hear a lot about outdoor pollution, from industrial sources, cars, trucks and heavy equipment and estimates are that about 60% of outdoor pollution levels make their way indoors. To address this issue and concern, Ami Zota of the Milliken School of Public Health at George Washington University led a team of researchers to begin to answer these questions. When the dust had cleared in this study, so to speak, the research team had identified 35 chemicals that were present and that have been associated with adverse health outcomes “including reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, cognitive and behavioral impairment in children, cancer, asthma, immune dysfunction, and chronic disease.